Dance With Me
by Petite Sirene
Summary: Faye Morgan's a dancer, and has been dancing since she was 3. But she can't find a dance partner to stick with. One day she dances with Fuji Shusuke, and falls in love with his dancing. But she refuses him as a partner because of his popularity. FujiXOC
1. Tango To A New Dance Partner

**Chapter One**

**Tango To A New Dance Partner**

"One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four." Those four words were repeated like a mantra. It was really getting on my nerves. I didn't expect it to be this simple. But what was I to say? I _was_ teaching beginners. My name is Faye Morgan, and I'm a dancer/instructor here at Soft Steps Dance Studio.

The class had about ten people in it, and they were people who completely didn't know how to dance—not even a little bit. I clapped my hands to the beat, hoping it would help the students. It had already been a month since I started teaching here. The students who had no idea how to dance, were starting to look like _real_ dancers—kind of.

Today, they were learning the quickstep. It was a dance that originated in the 1920s. The dance required many steps with a quick momentum, leading to its name. It was a beautiful dance that had helped me win many dance competitions. It wasn't my favorite though, my favorite was either the tango or the cha-cha. They were both exciting dances that could either be slow or fast, in the same dance. But now that I think about it, I have two other favorite dances; the merengue and the bachata. They were dances that required the two dance partners to be close together. The steps are often in circular movements or away from each other in a sideway fashion. There are many intricate steps to the dances, and the hand holds are the same. The two dances were very romantic.

I've always been into dancing, I've been dancing ballet for most of my life. But for the past six years, I've been doing all of the other dances that have become famous in the world. I'm now sixteen and a sophomore in high school. And even though I've been dancing since I was three, I still haven't found my perfect dance partner. Whenever I tell people that, they wonder who I've been dancing with in all of my competitions.

It's a bit embarrassing to admit it, but for all my life, whenever I needed a dance partner for a competition, I danced with my twin brother, Roshe Morgan. He's about twelve minutes older than me, and the only thing we have in common is the fact that we've both been dancing since we were _both_ three. I'm just lucky that he hasn't found a dance partner either, or else I would've lost by default at all of those competitions.

But lately, Roshe has been dancing with a girl named Suzuki Midori (last names will be first for Japanese). I think Roshe has finally found his dance partner, not only that, but he also found his soulmate. He won't admit that he's finally found his partner, but it's obvious to everyone.

I'm happy for him—obviously, since he's my brother and everything. Things are going to be great...for him. For me, it's all going downhill. I don't have a dance partner, which means I can't dance in anything. The only time I get to dance is when I'm at this studio. I dance at home too, but there's not much room to.

If my family and I were still living in America, I might still have a chance at getting a partner. But we ended up moving to Japan because of my parents' jobs. I know no one, and people are awed by the fact that I'm an American.

"Okay, that's it! Class is over for today!" I shouted out.

The class all gathered their stuff and went out the door, I threw on a jacket over my camisole and picked up my school bag. I jogged the rest of the way home, I had to stay in shape. I've been living here for over a year. When I was in my freshmen year of high school, I ended up getting really into tennis, and joined the tennis team. All of my friends are regulars on the girls' team.

When I got home, my family was getting ready for dinner. We always ate dinner around 8 because I come home from dancing late, and because me parents come home from work a little late too. I plopped down at the table, and after we got all of the food out, we talked about how our day went. Like a regular family.

"How's Midori?" I asked to Roshe, taking a bite of pasta. "So...is she your dance partner for the upcoming competition? If she is, we might be dancing against each other, Roshe."

"We're probably going to dance together. She's amazing," Roshe replied.

"I guess we can't be partners anymore. Now I really have to step it up. It was so easy to win with an experienced dancer, but now I have to go find a new one that I'm not used to. You and Midori are going to be really hard to beat."

"Yeah, you really got your work cut out for you. At least you have tennis. I don't do anything else except dance."

"You're good at a lot of things, you're just too focused on dancing."

"And you're not?"

"Listen, it's not about me right now. It's about you and your relationship!"

"Who says I want to talk about me and Midori?!"

"You won't even admit that you're in love with her! How do you think that makes her feel, huh?!"

"Faye! Roshe! Stop!" our mother called out. "We are having dinner, and there will be no bickering at the dinner table."

"Sorry, Mom," Roshe and I apologized, our heads drooped down in shame.

"I'll give you a handicap and tell you what dance me and Midori are going to do," Roshe started. "We're going to be doing the rumba."

"Oh! Sexy," me and Roshe made up in a second. "The rumba _is_ known for slow hip movement and beautiful dance steps with a slow rhythm. Are you trying to get closer to her? And not in the obvious way either."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"If I find a dance partner, I'm going to do the dance that I'm best at with a partner."

"The tango?"

"Exactly. If I do a dance that I'm already super good at, I might actually win against you!"

"Keep on dreaming, kid."

"We're the same age. Why do you keep calling me that?"

"Because I'm older than you by twelve minutes."

I laughed at that comment. He was always going on and on about how he was older than me and that he had to protect me from bad guys. He was a pretty good brother—most of the time.

After dinner I climbed up the stairs and went up to my room. My room had a twin sized bed with bright, red sheets and the walls were covered with posters of the most famous dancers of all time. It also adorned a—recently added—Maria Sharapova poster. My room was painted red, an inspirational color that signified passion, danger, strength, and energy.

I was never really accepted into groups of friends quickly because of my "power". I can see auras. I know what people are feeling at all times, it's not just a power that I can turn off whenever I want. I was born with it, and I've seen people's auras for as long as I can remember. Like today, my brother had a pink aura around him all day, it was for love. Pink can mean other things: like sincerity or friendship. Each colored aura has its good and bad things. Red didn't only mean the things above; it also represented anger, fear, and ego. But for some reason ,even though there were a lot of emotions with each color, I could tell exactly which emotion it was, because of the shade of the color. A bright red stood for passion, but a dark red stood for fear. I could tell from the people who were good, and the people who were bad.

I had better get a good night's sleep tonight. Tomorrow I had to start looking for a new partner. I would find one, even if it killed me. I wasn't going to lose before the competition even started. I changed into my blue basketball shorts and a baggy t-shirt before going to bed.

* * *

In the morning I was a little groggy and crawled out of my bed. Mornings were hard for me, I was a night dancer. Everything seemed more romantic during the night.

"Rise and shine, Dancer," Roshe greeted me when I came down for breakfast. Dancer was what Roshe always called me. But he was as good a dancer as I was, so it made no sense for him to tease me about being obsessed with dancing.

"Hey," I said with a yawn.

"Why up so early?"

"Where are our parents?"

"They had to go to work early. So I took the honors of making our breakfast."

On the table was set two bowls, a carton of milk, and a box of cereal. I raised my eyebrow at the breakfast that Roshe had "made".

"You did a _really_ good job in making our breakfast," I replied, picking up a dirty napkin that Roshe had left out and dropped it into the trashcan.

I sat down anyways and poured some cereal into my bowl along with milk, and started eating. Roshe sat down and joined me. He ate four bowls of cereal before he rushed me out of the house, gripping on to my forearm and pulling me in the direction to the school.

"Ow! Let me go!" I shouted yanking my arm from his grasp.

"Sorry! I'm just excited," he smiled.

"Excited about what?"

"Well, I have a big surprise for you. My friends and I set it all up last night."

"Set what up...?"

"You'll see! Now hurry up!"

Roshe started running and grabbed me along with him. I stumbled into the schoolyard with him. Waiting at the front gates were two of Roshe's friends and about twenty other guys.

"Ta-da!" Roshe shouted, spreading his arms out. "We set up auditions for your new dance partner. It's like speed dating, except it's speed _dancing_."

"I see..." I said, nodding my head slowly up and down. I didn't really get why Roshe was doing this, but I pretended I did. I didn't want to hurt his feelings. He put so much effort into finding me my new partner.

I sat down on a bench next to Roshe. We were auditioning dancers. We had already auditioned half of the people, but none of them were good enough. And most of them didn't even know how to do the dancing that I knew. They knew the new style; hip-hop, break dancing, folk/polka dancing, western dancing, and some even knew belly dancing. Belly dancing was _not_ the right way for some guy to go.

"This isn't working, Roshe," I groaned. "The bell's going to ring any minute now anyways."

"Trust me, we'll find you a dance partner," Roshe said, getting pumped up. "We'll have a different way of auditioning. I'm sure a lot of guys would like to dance with such a pretty girl, and dancing with one will definitely bring out their inner dancer."

"What do you me—?" I was cut off as the bell rang.

"Tell you at lunch!" Roshe turned around and waved.

Lunchtime

"I wonder what your brother is going to do," Eto Ayumi asked, playing with the food on her tray.

"I don't know! He said the auditions were going to be different," I admitted, putting my head down on the table.

"He's coming over now!" Koizumi pointed out.

Roshe came jogging up to the table and slammed his fist down. "I was busy finding more guys to be your dance partner. Oh! And one more thing, a lot of guys are going to come to the dance studio tonight."

"What?! Why?" My mouth dropped down in disbelief. Please don't tell me what I think you're going to tell me.

"Okay, so watching guys dance isn't the best idea. You need to have some sort of chemistry with your dance partner too, even if you don't like them. Your bodies have to be in sync. So I thought, tonight, you could dance with a whole bunch of guys and see which one is the best."

"I _guess_ that's possible..."

"Awesome!" Roshe ran off in the direction of the gym.

"You're brother is nice, Faye. You should appreciate all of the nice things he does for you. I wish I had a brother," Tsubaki admitted. "Wait, are you going to miss tennis again for this?"

"No Tsubaki. I'm not going to miss tennis practice just to find a dance partner. I only miss practice when a dance competition comes up. You know that," I told her.

"Okay, well see you at practice then. I have to make tennis plans with Ryuzaki-sensei and Tezuka-san." Tsubaki walked off in the same direction Roshe had.

"Don't worry, Faye. No worries. You'll find your dance partner, I guarantee it," Miki said.

"What if it's someone I hate? What if it's someone from the boys' tennis team?"

"With _your_ luck, it'll likely be someone from the boys' team," Kumiko muttered, a smile playing on her lips.

"I don't want it to be someone from the boys' team! You all know that we can't get along with them!"

"Who knows? You might fall for one of them."

"Don't say that Kumiko!"

"Jeez! Sorry! I'll pick on someone else."

"This cannot be happening to me!"

Soft Steps Dance Studio

I walked slowly to inside the dance studio. Today at tennis practice I was laughed at by my friends. It wasn't mean laughter, but it did embarrass me. They said that they wanted to come and watch how horrible the guys auditioning would be.

"Okay, guy number one! Get ready!" I changed into a pair of baggy pants and a stripped camisole with a ribbon that held the front together. I took of my school shoes and put on a pair of black converse.

I stood in front of the guy, and held my arms out, he but one hand on my waist and the other on my shoulder.

"No, no. Put your other hand in mine." I held out my hand and he awkwardly put his in mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see more guys filing in.

To be honest, all of the guys that my brother got, sucked. Nothing they did was right. They were novices in dancing. Most of them couldn't get the moves down and held me in the dance position wrong. Some of the guys even stepped on my feet.

It was eight already and no one was left at the studio. I breathed out a sigh of relief, I didn't have to dance with anyone inexperienced anymore. I turned on the stereo to a song that had a lot of beat and spunk—a hip hop song. I locked my hand together and twirled my hands around my head while I actually twirled. I slide towards the right holding my left arm out, as if I was dancing with a partner. I slid to the left too and turned my back to the door. I lifted my arms up and did a flip. I could hip hop dance too if I wanted to.

"Excuse me...?" a voice from behind me said. I immediately stopped dancing and turned around brushing my bangs away from my face.

A boy with semi-long brown hair stood in front of me. His eyes were closed and he was smiling. He was really handsome and probably had millions of girlfriends already. Or millions of fan girls. "Am I too late for auditions?"

"No, not at all." I decided to give him a chance. What could go wrong? I already went through some pretty bad people today. He couldn't be any worse.

I turned on the stereo again, except this time I went to the song; Lu Cumparsita, it was the perfect song to do a tango with, it had no lyrics either, it was perfect.

The guy ended up holding out his hands instead. I put one of my hands on his shoulder and I slipped my other hand in his. His grip was firm and strong, his body pressed against mine, I could feel the muscles underneath, he was kind of wiry not super buff. He was a whole foot taller than me, I was only five feet and he had to be six. He opened his eyes just as the song started.

I started off by turning my right foot and doing a little twist with my left. He got closer to me and stepped out and back in again. I arched my back and kicked my foot up. He responded by spinning me and lifting my small body into the air. I twisted and wrapped my legs around his middle for about one second, then I twisted the other way and landed on the floor.

The song ended faster than I wanted it too. Here was a guy that was almost as good as Roshe. Maybe he could help me beat my own brother. He just looked down at me with cerulean blue eyes that had a sharp glint in them.

"Uh...um!" I stumbled around with my words, trying to tell him that he got the part as my new dance partner. "You got the part!"

"Really? I didn't think I would get it, there must be better dancers in this town than me."

"Not anyone who came by today. My name is Faye Morgan, what's yours?"

"I'm surprised you don't know me, Faye-san."

"What do you mean?"

"I see you every day at tennis practice. I heard you were looking for a dance partner and I thought that I should get a dance partner too. And since I already knew you. Plus, I also heard that you were one of the best dancers in Tokyo, you ranked as the number two dancer right?"

"Yeah, how did you know? I only got number two because my brother was the number _one_ dancer in Tokyo. He's better than me."

"You're good yourself. I still can't believe you don't know me. I'm in the boys' tennis team."

"Really?" I started squirming in her skin. The girls' team never got along with the boys' team.

"Yeah, I'm a regular and I usually do singles two. My name is Fuji Shusuke."

"Fuji...Shusuke..."

I've definitely heard that name somewhere before... I snapped my fingers. I know who he is! He's the guy at my school that has all of the girls swooning over him. He has hundreds of fan girls and is constantly chased and stalked. He even gets love letters with locks of hair in them.

I shivered, this was a bad idea. A _bad_ idea. I couldn't be the dance partner of Fuji Shusuke! I would get killed by his fan girls! I didn't even like like him! But everyone would assume that I did. The girl regulars—including me—were the only girls in our whole school that didn't like him.

Immediately, I felt disgusted just by being near him. He could get any girl he wanted. I didn't want to be one of those girls. And who knew how much experience he had? The only choice I had was to refuse him.

"Listen, Fuji-san," I started. "You're good and all. But this just won't work."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Fuji closed his eyes again.

"I'll get killed if I'm seen with you, much less dancing with you! And I don't want to be your puppet so I just can't except. I know your reputation."

"It's not like that. But if you don't want me to be your dance partner, I'll leave. You know where to find me if you want me as your dance partner. But I'll tell you one thing; you're an amazing dancer, and I've never danced with anyone as good as you."

He left and I walked over to the mirrors. I knew that he was just trying to get me to like him. He had all of the girls, and if he didn't have one, he would try to get her, and of course she would fall for him. But I wasn't going to fall for him or his charm. He may be a good dance partner but he wasn't a good person, which made all the difference.

But I would be lying to myself if I said that I didn't feel anything towards him when we danced. It wasn't _him_ I fell in love with; _it was his dancing._

**_

* * *

Please Review! Reviews would definitely motivate me to update sooner!_**

**_If you want to see what Faye looks like, the link to her picture is up on my profile._**


	2. Not Ready Yet To Salsa

**Chapter Two**

**Not Ready Yet To Salsa**

My hand completely froze in midair. It was half-way to the door, and I just couldn't bring myself to knock. Maybe it would never be time, but I wouldn't let myself think that. Even if I were to get hurt, I couldn't give up the thing I loved the most.

I was at Fuji Shusuke's house, and I was going to ask him to be my dance partner. It had been three weeks since I last saw him face to face. I saw him at school, but he was always surrounded by girls. Everything sure had changed since middle school, or that's what I heard. In middle school, I heard that he didn't care about the fan girls, he didn't care about anything but tennis, which he still couldn't show his full potential in. Now, he was always with girls, doing who knows what. But maybe it was just his hormones or something kicking in. He was a guy after all. He was always with a different girl, or dating multiple girls at the same time. He really was different.

Girls hung around him just to see if they could get a chance with him. Most of them did, but the "ugly ones" never got to date him. He only liked pretty girls, and he was a player. What happened to the sweet Fuji back then? He turned into the horny, playboy Fuji.

Even though I knew all of these things, it didn't stop me from loving his dancing. Don't get me wrong, I hate him as a person, but I love his dancing. When I danced with him, it was like I was biting into some forbidden fruit. I wanted to try it again and again. How could I be in love with his dancing though, and not with him? Almost every girl swooned when he looked at them, and even more than that liked him. It makes no sense to me when I think about it; I love his dancing, but I hate him. Usually, if you love one thing about the person, you actually love the person, or at least like him. But no, I had to be the weird one in the whole world.

Just as I was about to give up and walk away, Fuji opened the door. His eyes were open, and his blue eyes were narrowed in what would count as a sexy stare. His white collared shirt was unbuttoned and his pants were sagging. He leaned against the frame of the door and raised an amused eyebrow.

Okay, I definitely had to get out of there. It was a bad time to pop in. Who knows what was going on in his house. I had to leave, _now_.

"Um, I'm sorry, I'm at the wrong house, excuse me." I turned away and started walking, but Fuji reached out and grabbed my arm, his grip was tight.

"It's not polite to just come to someone's house and not come in," he smirked.

"Look, it's getting late, I don't have time to be here, I'm sorry. I truly am."

"Just come in. I think I know why you're here anyways."

He pulled me inside his house. It was nice, not too overly decorated, but just right. He was really strong, must have been from tennis. He brought me to the living room and pushed me on to his couch. The couch was too soft and it sucked me in.

He looked down at me through his thick eyelashes and said, "You came here either to ask me to be your dance partner or to come and just 'hang' with me."

I threw up a bit in my mouth, but I swallowed it before I replied, "I'm not like your fan girls. I don't even like you! I just came here because I need a dance partner. You're the best one so far, and the competition is just around the corner. I need a partner or I can't participate. There's no one else in the whole city who can dance like you.

"Strange. Most girls that come to my house are here for only one reason."

"Don't think that I'm like those other girls! Because I'm not! I don't like you at all and I will never like a playboy like you! No matter what you do, I'll never fall for you!"

Fuji's smile disappeared. His blue eyes grew colder. His hands slammed into the couch, trapping my head in between his two arms. His aura was pure red, for lust. He leaned in close to me and said in my ear, "If you're here to try and ask me to be your dance partner, you're not doing a very good job. You're not suppose to insult the person you're trying to ask the favor of."

"L-listen, I don't want to cause any trouble so if you would just let me g—"

"Sorry, that's not possible. I want you to beg. Beg me to be your dance partner."

"I'm not going to do something for your own enjoyment! I'd rather lose than do that!"

"Would you?"

"Yes!"

"Well then, kiss me instead."

"W-what?! N-no! I'm not going to beg or kiss you! I'm leaving!"

I tried to stand up, but Fuji was too close to me, I hit my head on his head. I quickly squirmed out under his arm and ran to the door. I reached the staircase when a girl with blond hair came down the stairs. Her hair was messed up and her clothes were wrinkled.

"Fuji-sama, I'm leaving now," the girl said, lighting a cigarette and walking out the door.

Fuji came up behind me, and grabbed my shoulders. I was getting sick, he was touching me, and I got disgusted just by being near him. I pulled away from his grasp and ran out the door that was left open by the other girl.

Where I was going, I didn't even know. I just kept running until I couldn't run anymore. My knees collapsed from under me and I sat there on the ground, tears coming out of my eyes. I didn't know why I was crying, it made no sense for me to. It's not like I liked him, so what if he was with another girl in his bedroom.

I might have fallen for him, if he was the old Fuji in middle school that I heard so much about. The nice, polite Fuji, the Fuji that was so kind and caring, the Fuji that loved tennis more than anything else, the Fuji that helped any person in need, the Fuji that cared the most about his family and friends. But that Fuji was dead, all of those were dead. _He_ was dead.

I just _couldn't _enter the competition. I had no partner, and I would rather die than have him as a partner. There was no one else—no one. He knew that though, and he would try to use it against me. I don't know how or why he became the way he did. All I know is that he's someone that I would never hang out with.

***

Saturday, the day where I usually spend at the dance studio, or at the tennis courts. Today was a Saturday, but I didn't feel like I had the energy for either one. I didn't feel up to either, it was like my passion for both hobbies had vanished, and all because of that one day with Fuji. He danced and played tennis, I felt lost to both.

My bedroom door crashed against the wall, my brother came waltzing in. He was so happy that there not only was there a pink aura around him, but all over the room too. His smile faded as he saw me. "What's wrong? Why aren't you dressed yet? You're usually at the dance studio by now."

"I don't feel like dancing or playing tennis today. I've lost my passion for both," I croaked out, pulling the covers over my head.

"You need to get up. If you've lost your passion, that means that you have to go and do the thing right away to get your passion back. What's wrong? Tell me."

Roshe came and sat down on my bed. I flipped the covers over and looked at him straight in the eye, he stared back at me with the same intense look that I was giving him. I sighed and told him exactly what happened the other day. I could see Roshe's aura go from pink to a murky orange for anxiety.

"Look, there's nothing to be worried about," I stated.

"Don't ever go near him again, he's a major player," Roshe commanded.

"I don't even know the reason why he's the way he is."

"There are a lot of rumors about him. He's dangerous, don't hang around him too much."

"What rumors exactly?"

"Listen, everyone says that the reason he's a player is because—"

"Because his hormones are going crazy?"

"Don't interrupt me! And no, do you see me like that? I'm only a year younger than him! Anyways, he lost his passion for tennis, and there's a hole in his heart now, and he can only fill in that hole again if he does the things he does now. I know I told you to stay away from him, but how about you ask him about it?"

"I don't know…"

Roshe obviously knew I was depressed and left me alone for the rest of the morning. But when it was 12, he came back into my room and made me change. He was going to try to cheer me up, even though I didn't want to be cheered up. He ended up dragging me to the dance studio.

"What are we doing here Roshe?" I sighed. I really didn't want to dance at the moment.

"We're here because I want to show you why you love dancing," Roshe smiled—as if it was the most brilliant plan in the whole world. "You're going to dance with me! You always were more passionate when you danced with me. Maybe it's because we're siblings and you don't want to look like you're bad in front of me."

"That is so not it!" My mood was raising, Roshe was the ultimate anti-depressant.

We came into the dance studio, there were a lot of rooms. Roshe took me to one and turned on some music. It was the perfect music to do a salsa. He took my hand and started dancing, even though I was just standing there, not doing anything. Soon, I couldn't help myself, and I started dancing.

Just like the time with Fuji, I lost myself in the music, and the dancing. We danced for about four hours before I was back to normal. Just because some guy was discouraged about his life, it didn't mean that I should be too.

"Thanks, Roshe. You know exactly how to cheer me up. You're the best brother ever!" I told him.

"No problem, I can't let you lose your passion for dancing. It's your whole life," he replied.

"Thanks again. I can't believe I let a guy get me all depressed, and I don't even like him!" Roshe just shook his head and me and chuckled a bit. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"I see what you mean. It almost sounds as if you were jealous of the girl at Fuji's house."

"Now why would I be jealous? Please explain to me, Roshe. Because I don't understand what you're trying to say."

"It's just that you went all the way over to his house to ask him to be your partner, but you didn't even get the chance to because he was so … weird. And, you had to either beg him to be your partner, or you had to kiss him to make him your partner. But all of the girls you see him with just ask him to date them and he says yes. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure that you're the only girl he's ever asked to do something for him in order for him to do something for you"

"Yeah, I know why he's doing that. It's 'cause he's a jerk. I'm the only girl that he's talked to who doesn't like him, and rejected him. So he wants to do something mean to me."

"Be careful, Faye. Guys like him are nothing but trouble."

"I know how to watch out for myself, Roshe. I'm not a kid. I may be your younger sister by twelve minutes, but I'm the same age as you. I don't need to be looked after constantly."

"I understand...."

I left Roshe back at the dance studio, he was going to meet Midori anyways. After that talk I had with Roshe, I kind of figured out why he was the way he was. I decided to go talk to him about it again, I just hope that his siblings were home this time so that I didn't have to face him alone.

It took awhile to get to his house, but it only took long because I kept stalling. When I finally did get to his house, I didn't know what I was suppose to say to him. I've been thinking the whole walk to his house, but nothing came into my mind.

I decided to be brave and rang the doorbell. A girl that seemed about twenty or so opened the door. My face fell, another girl at Fuji's house? He was alone! I couldn't talk to him, especially if he was messing with girls again.

The girl looked at me and smiled. "Are you one of Shu-kun's friends?"

"Shu-kun?" I replied.

"Yes, that's Shusuke's nickname. I'm his sister, Fuji Yumiko."

"Oh... Sister..."

"Come in, please."

Fuji's house looked the same as the last time I was there. His sister led me up to his room and went downstairs again. I stood there, not quite sure if he was alone in there or not. I knocked on his door and waited until he opened the door.

His normal smile turned into a smirk as he saw me. "Well, what is Faye-chan doing here?"

"I'm here to ask you to be my dance partner," I said bluntly.

"Well, you know the conditions."

"I know why you do the things you do." I was throwing stuff in his face to see if it was true.

"So you heard about me losing my passion?"

"Uh, yeah." I couldn't believe that he told me the truth so quickly.

"Come into my room, it's rude to let a girl keep standing."

I followed Fuji into his room. He sat down in the chair at his desk and I sat down on his bed. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes before he said, "What you heard is true. But I don't do all of those things just for the one reason where I lost my passion, I also do it because it's fun."

"I've decided to help you," I blurted out. "I want to help you until you either find a girl you really love, or until you get your passion for tennis again."

"Why so nice all of a sudden?"

"Well, it's just sad when someone loses their passion for something they love so much. I was depressed today because of you, and I thought I lost my passion too, except for dancing. But Roshe made me feel better, and I realized that I needed to help you."

"So I made you lose your passion for a day? Figures."

"Listen, I'll be your dance partner for now until you find someone that you have chemistry with. Then you can dance with her instead."

"I already found someone who I have chemistry with." Fuji stood up and came over to the bed and pushed me down. My head landed on his pillow and he put his hands on both sides of my head. He leaned his face in close to mine. "I'll only be your dance partner if you kiss me. We both know that you helping me isn't the only reason why you want to be my dance partner. You also need me to be your dance partner so that you don't lose. You just said you'll help me so that you don't have to kiss me. But I know you need me more than I need you."

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm here to help you, and if you don't want my help then I'll leave."

"Do you really mean it?"

"No...I really need you as a dance partner. I know that there's really no solution for you unless something really big inspires you, but I still want to help you."

"So you do need me more than I need you."

"Please be my dance partner. I'll help you! I'll really try and everything."

"You know the conditions."

He still stared at me with those cerulean blue eyes. I was trapped, his hands were on either sides of my head and he was almost on top of me. I nodded my head "yes". I would do anything to beat my brother, as long as it didn't include cheating.

My hands shook as I grabbed onto his head, I pulled it down to mine and pressed my lips against his. His lips were soft and I could feel it moving against mine. I didn't want to kiss him anymore, but he held me and I couldn't move. Somehow, his tongue slipped into my mouth, it felt warm and slippery.

I pounded on his chest, trying to get me off of him. But he held tighter. I was punching him and kicking him. He finally let go and looked back at me with a smile.

"Damn you!" I shouted. "You perverted bastard!"

"You agreed to the kiss," he retorted.

I slid off his bed and stomped over to the door. Before I left, he came up behind me and whispered, "Don't forget your promise. That you would help me get my passion for tennis back, no matter what. I'll be your dance partner now."

I quickly slammed the door behind me and ran down the stair. Yumiko was confused at what happened and called after me, but I ignored her. I ran out the door and down the road.

**_

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Please Review! Reviews would definitely motivate me to update sooner!_**

**_If you want to see what Faye looks like, the link to her picture is up on my profile._**


	3. Time to ChaCha!

Hey everyone, sorry I hadn't updated in such a long time. It's just that I lost inspiration for everything. But when I reread my fanfics, it gave me inspiration again! I'll try to update every 2 weeks at the most. Sorry again guys. And sorry for such a short chapter this time! I'll make it longer next time!

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**Chapter Three**

**Time to Cha-Cha!**

"Damn," I whispered in frustration. The clasp on my dress was broken and it wouldn't clip together. I tried to make the two pieces fit together, but without the small broken part, it wouldn't hold together. "Damn, damn, damn, damn!"

"Having trouble?" Fuji asked, coming up behind me.

"No!" I snapped back at him.

He agreed to be my dance partner, and he was there with me, for our competition together. But lady luck was not on my side. I was wearing a halter dress, and without the clasp working, the dress would fall down. I tried again to make the two pieces go together, but once again, the two wouldn't hold together.

"Here, let me help," Fuji sighed. He grabbed my hands and pushed them away from the clasp that held the dress around my neck. He ignored the clasp altogether and just tied the two sides in a devil's knot, one of the strongest knots. He even got a pin and pinned it together just in case the knot wasn't strong enough. "There, you have to be 10% smarter than the object you're dealing with."

"Whatever," I mumbled. Lately, Fuji had been picking on me. And even though he's mean to me, he still helps me out. He totally ignores me when we're not at the dance studio, but when we are at the studio, he makes fun of me.

My nerves were on overdrive, this was the first competition where Roshe wasn't my dance partner. This competition wasn't the big one that Roshe was going to be in, it was a small competition that I had fortunately found. I didn't want to enter a big competition with Fuji as my dance partner when I didn't know what he would do. So to test him out, I entered a small competition to see how well he does.

The announcer called out our names and numbers. I straightened every lose hair I had and stepped on stage with Fuji. The lights weren't as bright as the bigger competitions, and the stage was smaller.

"Here we go," I whispered.

***

I sat on the sidewalk sulking. There was no reason to sulk, we had won first place. But my heart felt heavy and the win didn't seem right. I twirled the first place ribbon around my fingertips and mumbled some things about not winning fairly.

"What's wrong?" Fuji asked, his voice annoyed. "We won, and not only that, but you were the one who wanted to enter this competition in the first place. Come on, stop sulking. You're bringing everyone down with your mood."

"If you haven't noticed, no one is here. They all left hours ago, you're the only one left. Anyways, I already told you to go home without me!" I mumbled.

"I can't just leave you here alone! It's eight at night! You've been sitting here for _three hours_. It's time to go home and stop worrying about how we won. You couldn't have known."

"I could have found out. But I chose not to search deeper into the competition. It's so unfair to the other people! Of course only beginners would enter a small competition! We won by a huge landslide! It wasn't fair, all of the other people dancing were all beginners!" My head fell into my hands and I groaned.

"That's it." Fuji grabbed my arm and yanked me up

"Hey!" I shouted at him. But he wasn't listening, he was walking.

I stumbled over my own two feet. I could dance in heels, but walking in it was completely different for me. Dancing felt natural, but walking with it felt awkward and made me feel silly. When I started to slow down, Fuji yanked my forward and I almost fell. He was being really rough, I would probably get a bruise on my arm where he was holding it.

"Stop! You're hurting my arm!" I shouted, trying to yank my arm out.

Fuji let go of my arm, but not before saying, "Fine, but you have to walk home, and no more sulking!"

This guy really could be a sadistic bastard sometimes. I remembered what had happened between us just recently, and my cheeks colored red. Thank God it was dark and he was faced away from me. If he saw, I wouldn't be able to live it down, and he would probably torture me for who knew how long.

Fuji practically dragged me all the way to my house, and said goodbye without even looking at me. Ever since the deal, he had been acting strange. But that must have been partly my fault, I had been treating him like the bad guy ever since he did what he did. He didn't hit on me or anything anymore, he treated me with indifference. So in truth, he wasn't such a bad guy to me anymore. But I couldn't even imagine what he would do to other people. I heard that he was pretty sadistic.

I finally sighed and walked into the house. My mom greeted me from the kitchen, and I slumped up to my room. I knew that my brother Roshe would soon come to ask me about the competition, so I locked my door and turned off all of the lights to make it seem as if I was sleeping. I crawled into my bed after changing and couldn't get to sleep.

I tossed and turned all night, I couldn't sleep a wink. Thank goodness that the next day was Sunday, or else I would've never been able to go about life in school. I would probably seem like a zombie, or something close to that.

At 9am when I couldn't stand to lie in bed pretending to sleep anymore, I got up and changed into sweats and rode my bike to the dance studio. Instead of practicing all of the other dances that I just started to learn, I practiced ballet. I had never told anyone before, but the reason I majored in ballet instead of all the other, more exciting dances, was because I had always wanted to get the lead in the Swan Lake ballet, Odette. If I was good enough, I would be able to audition and if I made it, I would end up going back to New York to dance professionally as Odette in the production. I would also get to travel the world with the other dancers performing Swan Lake.

When I reached the dance studio, I was surprised and yet, not surprised to see Fuji there. He gave me a smirk as I put my bike into the bike rack.

"Nice look," he said, pointing to my sweats.

"Aww, I'm sorry. Are you embarrassed to be seen with me? I know most girls you hang out with usually dress like sluts." My voice was dripping with sarcasm and acid.

He cocked an eyebrow at my comment. "Are you jealous? I've never seen shy Faye the dancer talk like this before."

"What would I be jealous of?" I asked rattling the bike rack while I tried to secure my bike with the lock.

"Well, there are those other girls . . ."

"Listen," I spun around and looked him in the eyes. "I don't give a damn about what you do with other girls. But when we're here, at the dance studio or at a competition, you are my dance partner, nothing more. And when we're anywhere else, we're nothing. I don't feel anything for you, and I don't want anything to do with you outside of dancing. Get it?"

"Geez, calm down will you?" Fuji held his hands up in a sign of defeat, but I could see right through him. His eyes were of course closed, stating that my little outburst had no effect on him, and that he didn't care at all what I said. Plus, his aura didn't waver at all, which meant that he felt exactly how he always felt.

I shed my jacket as soon as I stepped inside the studio. I was planning on dancing ballet, but with Fuji there, I had no choice put to practice with him. What was worse was that all of the girls that were at the dance studio were staring at Fuji as if he was some kind of god. They then glanced at me and looked quickly away as if I wasn't worth their looks. I knew almost all of the people, and yet they ignored me and looked at Fuji.

One of the girls that I knew came up to me and giggled. She said, "Hey Faye, why don't you introduce your friend?" She kept batting her eyelashes at Fuji. I could see him checking her out back, seeing if she was pretty enough for him.

I coughed to get her attention back to me. "Um, this is Fuji Shusuke. And he's definitely not my friend."

He glanced down at me and said, "I thought we had something more than that, Faye."

I glared up at him and said, "There's nothing between us. You're just someone I dislike."

Fuji gave a fake said look at me. All of the girls swarmed around Fuji trying to comfort him. I quickly sneaked away, I didn't want to watch him flirt with other girls. He wasn't taking me seriously at all. I could hear the girls giggling at something that Fuji said. They were all flirting with him.

I just ignored their excited giggles and put on my ballet shoes. I started dancing, I didn't need music. People always said a true dancer didn't need music to dance to. I didn't know how long I danced, I was frustrated, and I didn't notice the time pass by.

After who knows how long, I finally noticed that there were no more giggles coming from the other room. I sighed in relief at the thought that Fuji had left. I went to gather my stuff and when I closed the mirrored door of the changing room, I almost screamed out in terror. Behind me, Fuji was standing staring at me.

"What are you still doing here?!" I asked him.

"I can't just leave a girl like you to walk home by yourself," he answered.

"I can handle myself! I don't need you to walk me home!"

"Just let me walk you home."

"I have a bike. You can't walk me home if I'm riding on a bike."

"We can just wheel it along."

Before I knew it, he had taken the key to the lock on my bike an left through the front door. I grumbled something about him being impolite and left through the door too. Fuji held firmly to my bike and started walking with it as soon as he saw me catch up to him. We walked silently together.

Occasionally, some cars passe by us. But other than that, it was like we were completely alone. I hadn't realized how late it was. I was just so weirded out earlier, and I needed to dance to relieve my stress.

We finally reached my street, and I was going to run up to my front door when Fuji stopped me. His eyes were open, and his cerulean blue eyes looked into my own brown ones. I felt uncomfortable for a moment, and tried to break free of his grasp. For some reason, it seemed as if he was always holding on to my arm: when I first came to his house, when he brought me home from the competition, and now.

He grabbed my face and brought it close to his. I didn't know why I didn't stop him. He knew I disliked him, and yet he still came closer. His lips brushed mine for a moment before he pushed harder. I didn't exactly kiss him back, but I didn't stop him either. Somewhere inside me, I knew that I had fallen for him, I just didn't want to admit it. His lips were just as soft as they were that first time we kissed. The look in his eyes and the way he was holding and kissing me made me feel as if he really cared. But . . . his aura . . . it was brown for self-involvement, and I knew that he was just using me like he did all those other girls. I should have stopped, but I didn't. It was the biggest mistake I had ever made in my life.

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**_Please Review! Reviews would definitely motivate me to update sooner!_**

**_If you want to see what Faye looks like, the link to her picture is up on my profile._**


	4. It Takes Two To Tango

**Chapter Four**

**It Takes Two To Tango**

It was a mistake. I knew it was a mistake. I should have stopped him. I was just too much of an idiot to do anything about it. That boy, Shusuke Fuji, had seduced me. No matter what I had said to myself, I still fell for him. It was my own fault entirely. I could not even remember how many times I had told myself that it was a mistake to kiss him. He had power over me now, like he had power over every girl that was in love with him. But I wasn't in love with him, and I wouldn't let him have any power over me. It was a promise to myself, which I had broken.

I was on my bed, and it was the day after he kissed me and I kissed him back. I had skipped school. I couldn't just go and see him look at me as if he had won me over. The hours were counting down, well more like counting up since it went like this: five o' clock, six o' clock, seven o' clock, and so on and so forth. At least he was a third year, and I was a second year. There were no more choices for me now. I had to go back to school the next day. I was going to die inside.

The night was long, very long. Or I thought it was, until my alarm clock rang, indicating that it was now six thirty in the morning. I didn't know if I had stayed up all night or not. I felt as if I kind of drifted between the world of sleeping, and the world of waking up.

I turned the shower on its full heat, and let it beat my back to oblivion before I got out. My movements were robotic, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to play tennis at all today. I felt as if my whole body were made out of cardboard. I knew that the clock was ticking again, but I wanted to waste as much time as I could by standing in front of the bathroom mirror and fix my school uniform over and over again. The ribbon was too crooked, the skirt was too short, my shirt wasn't placed correctly. That was how it was for me, and I tried to fix those tiny mistakes over and over again.

Eventually, Roshe pounded on the bathroom door, yelling at me to come out and go to school already. I listened to him, and opened the door. The look that was on his face was of shock, and his aura radiated his shock too. If I could have seen my aura, it must have been gray, for the life was knocked right out of me.

"Roshe," I whispered, "I made the biggest mistake of my life."

"Tell me," he simply said.

"I let him kiss me, and I kissed him back, Sunday night."

"I told you to be careful around him!"

"I know, I'm so sorry. I know the saying, it takes two to tango. I wouldn't be in this situation if I didn't let him kiss me and if I didn't kiss him back." I let my bangs fall into my face to hide my now lifeless eyes.

Roshe didn't say anything. There was nothing he could say, and maybe he knew that. Roshe knew that it would take too long for us to walk to school, considering my state. Instead, he got out his bike and got on. He motioned for me to get on too. I rode on the back of his bike until we reached school. I took the long way to the tennis courts, trying to avoid the boys' side of the place.

My friends all greeted me with the strangest of looks as I banged open the fence door to the courts. They didn't say anything, waiting for me to tell them what happened first. I didn't say anything. I practiced, but I wasn't really there, it was like I was watching myself. My movements were still robotic, and I wasn't even good.

"Faye," my captain, Oguri Tsubaki said as she came up to me, "I think you should sit down and rest for the rest of the day. You don't have to come to tennis at all this week. Your brother told us what happened."

I nodded, faintly aware of what she said. Roshe had told them before hand, I must have been really slow if he got to them before I did. I didn't sit down as she told me to do. I walked out of the courts, and no one tried to stop me, but I could feel their stares on my back.

My feet dragged, and I could feel some people bump into me, but I no longer cared. I just kept walking on, I knew that my life was no longer what I thought it was. I had lost, but that wasn't the most terrible thing. I had fallen for him, and he was just using me. He didn't care about me at all, he only wanted to have more girls to hang out with. I had fallen for a player, and I knew that he wasn't serious because I saw his aura. It was not pink for love or even friendliness, it was red for lust and brown for self-involvement.

It was too late to feel sorry for myself. It was my own fault. It truly was, because I was able to see his auras, I was able to see how he really felt about me, and yet, I still fell for him. The pain was excruciating. I knew that the next time I would see him, I would see him either with one girl, or there would be girls all over him.

The bell rung, and I could feel my feet forcing themselves to make their way to the classroom. Along the way, I felt someone pushing my back guiding me to my classroom, and I knew that it either had to be Ayumi, who was in my class, or my brother Roshe. He was watching out for me, he knew something was wrong, and he was waiting for me to say something about it to him. I didn't look behind me, I just kept looking at me feet brush against the floor as I slowly made my way.

I knew that it was Ayumi who was guiding me because the person who was doing that came into my class and after making me sit, sat next to me. I didn't want anyone look at me, but I felt as if the whole class was staring. Their stares burned holes into my very being, but I never looked up at them, I continued to stare at my desk. It continued like that during the rest of the day.

During lunch, I couldn't sit with my friends. Our table was way to close to the boys' tennis team table. We all had the same lunch too. I couldn't stand it. I didn't want to sit with them, but before I could do anything, Ayumi had grabbed my arm and forced me to sit at our regular table. My friends were being a bit quieter, and they seemed to be very careful with what they said. I couldn't force myself to look up, I couldn't look at their table.

"Damn it, Faye! What's wrong?" Saori yelled. The cafeteria turned to look at us. I didn't know who was looking and who wasn't, my bangs were in my eyes and I was still staring at my shoes.

"There's nothing wrong," I lied. I didn't sound very convincing either, my voice cracked on the very last word and it sounded like I was going to cry.

"What is wrong, Faye? We know there's something up," Miki whispered. She put her hand and my back and patted it.

My eyes felt like they were frosted with glue. I couldn't look up, all I could do was look down.

"What is wrong? We're your friends!" Koizumi fumed. "Don't you trust us?"

I opened my mouth to answer her, but nothing came out of my mouth. My tongue felt like sand paper and it stuck to the top of my mouth. I continued to stay quiet, it was like I had no choice.

"Faye," Tsubaki whispered, her hand over mine to show she supported me, "there's going to be coed matches today with the girls and boys. If you don't feel well, you don't have to come."

"I'm not going," I said.

There were footsteps, and Tezuka's voice came from where Tsubaki was sitting. "Oguri-san, there is still going to be the coed matches, correct?"

"Of course, Tezuka-san."

I could tell from the many footsteps that the whole team had followed him. They were probably going to go and practice some more before the afternoon so they wouldn't look like total idiots before the afternoon matches. The boys' team thought there was something wrong with me, and there was. I could feel their awkward glances.

"Is there something wrong, Faye-chan?" Eiji said. His head popped up right next to mine all of a sudden and I almost gasped in surprise. Thank goodness that my voice wasn't working, or else I might have screeched a little bit. I didn't answer Eiji. He was a good person, he was trying to cheer me up and make me feel better.

"There's nothing wrong with her, so get away you creep!" Saori stated. I could tell that Saori must have hit him because I heard a loud "ow" that came from him.

Silence. They were all staring at me now, the boys and the girls. If I stayed, and I said nothing, I would be a coward. If I left, I would be a coward. It was a lose-lose. I couldn't stand it anymore, I didn't buy a lunch, so I just stood up and walked away from everyone.

I reached the gates of the school before a voice stopped me. "Faye! Where are you going? School is still in session."

I stopped dead in my tracks. Don't turn around. Don't turn around.

The person walked up to me and took my arm. He was always pulling me by my arm, he was always grabbing me by my arm. It was Fuji Shusuke.

"Let me go, please," I whispered. There was sadness written all over my face, and my voice expressed it too.

"Can't you tell me what is wrong with you? You didn't show up to school yesterday, so what's up with you today?"

"Are you seriously telling me that you don't know what's wrong with me?" My voice was getting stronger, and I was getting angry. Our kiss truly did mean nothing to him if he couldn't even remember it.

"I don't know. Just tell me."

I yanked my arm away from him and brushed my bangs out of my eyes. I stared him straight in the eyes and shouted, "Stop using me! You know that I know that I like you! You always knew that I like you! And yet, our kiss wasn't even of any significance to you if you can't even remember it! I'm upset because I let you kiss me, and I even kissed back! I'm upset because I know that it didn't mean anything to you and that you were just using me!"

His eyes opened and I saw the cerulean eyes that made me squirm, I didn't even know if the feeling was good or bad. He wasn't smiling anymore and he said, "I didn't know that you like me. I never knew until just this moment. I don't mess with girls' hearts when they are truly in love with me."

"Who said I'm in love with you?! I'm not!"

Just at the right moment, Roshe came running up to me. He stopped short when he saw that I was yelling at Fuji. I turned towards my brother and motioned for him to come forward.

He seemed awkward as he said, "Faye, there's this guy, from America, and he knows about you and your dancing! You wants you to audition to play Odette from Swan Lake! You have a chance to go to New York and dance professionally in the production of Swan Lake at the New York Metropolitan Opera House! This could be your big chance!"

My mouth fell open. I was getting a chance to not only leave Japan and never have to see Fuji again and go back to my country, and I was getting the chance to fulfill my dream! I was going to get a chance to be the lead ballet dancer Odette in the biggest production of Swan Lake in the world.

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**_Please Review! Reviews would definitely motivate me to update sooner!_**

**_If you want to see what Faye looks like, the link to her picture is up on my profile._**


	5. Ballet Love

Everyone! I suggest you listen to this song while you read this chapter! **Liang Shan Bo yu Zhu Li Ye **Search it up on youtube, it'll be there.

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**Chapter Five**

**Ballet Love**

I couldn't believe it when Roshe told me. I was getting a chance to leave this place. I would be able to leave and never see Fuji again. My heart almost leaped out of my throat at the thought. My dream was coming true. I didn't even know how the guy was able to scout me, I did do a video audition and send in an application. Maybe if I passed the live audition, I would truly get to go back to America and perform in New York. Not only that, but I would get to travel with the ballet troupe all over the world and perform.

"Are you serious?" I asked Roshe.

"Do you think I would be kidding around about this kind of thing?" Roshe asked.

"Of course not, but still. I can't believe this is happening! When is the audition?"

"This Saturday at your dance studio if you confirm the audition. Here's his number." Roshe placed a slip of paper in my hand.

I ran to Roshe and practically jumped in his arms from happiness. I turned back around to run to the cafeteria and tell my friends, but I stopped dead in my tracks. I had totally forgotten about him, but there he was. Fuji Shusuke. He was standing before me with his amazing blue eyes staring at me.

"Are you really planning to leave all of your friends behind? Are you going to leave the tennis team behind?" Fuji asked me.

"You don't understand me at all!" I shouted back. He looked a bit surprised at my outburst. "This has been my dream since I was a kid! You have no idea how much I have wanted this my whole life. You don't understand anything about dreams since you just gave up and resorted to weird stuff once you got in high school! I hate people like you!"

He still stared at me and I stormed past him. He didn't follow me, and I ended up not going to the cafeteria again to tell my friends. Instead I ran to the school's field and took out my cell phone to dial the guy's number.

"Hello?" he answered on the first ring.

"This is Faye Morgan," I replied.

"Miss Morgan! Great to hear you again. I see you're calling to confirm your audition appointment?"

"Yes. I would never give up such a great opportunity as this."

"Wonderful! I'll see you on Saturday. Bring your A game. Everyone back in New York thinks you have what it takes to be the next Odette."

He hung up first, but I didn't hang up at all. The dial tone was ringing and the cell phone dropped out of my hand at the instant that my knees decided to not support me anymore. I fell to the ground on my knees and started to cry. I didn't understand why, this was the ultimate opportunity. But I was so sad, it made no sense to me. I couldn't stand the fact that my dream was making me so sad at the same time.

A hand was laid on my shoulder and a voice I recognized asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" I shouted out and wiped my tears away with the sleeve of my uniform. I didn't turn around to face Fuji. I thought that he didn't follow me, but I was wrong.

"Why are you still here?" I asked him.

"Because I'm worried about you."

"Liar! You don't care about anyone but yourself! I hate guys like you who mess with people!"

"I already told you. I don't mess with girls' hearts when they are truly in love with me. I didn't know that you liked me until you told me."

"You are such a bastard. You seem to know everything! How can you not know about me liking you? And I don't love you!"

"Is that the truth? Do you really not love me?" Fuji forced me to look at him, his eyes were open.

"No!" I sobbed out. "It's not true! I think I really did fall in love with you! But I hate you at the same time! You don't understand me at all!"

"If you love me, why are you leaving?"

"Because! Because I need to leave! I already told you it's been my dream for as long as I can remember. I also don't want to feel like this ever again! I don't want to experience heartbreak, especially from a player like you! I don't want any of this!"

Fuji grabbed both of my wrists in both of his hands. He gave out a sigh before he rested his forehead on my shoulder. I could feel his hot breath on my neck. I struggled to get him off of me, but he didn't budge and he didn't say anything.

"I promise you," he started but then stopped with another sigh. Or was he taking a deep breath? "I promise that I will never hurt you again. I promise that I will protect you from everything now on. I promise that I'll fall as deeply in love with you as you are with me. I promise that I won't mess with other girls anymore, I won't even talk to them. I promise you that someday, I will truly make you mine. I'm giving you all of these promises because I like you. I'm not in love with you yet, but I like you. A lot. So please, please tell me that you'll stay."

"It's not enough," the words escaped out of my mouth. "How can you expect me to believe you after everything that you've done with other people?"

"I'll show you. I'll show you the truth. I'll also show you how many people will want you to stay. If I'm able to show you all of those things. If I am able to make you see that I like you, and that no one here wants you to leave, will you stay?"

"Maybe," I replied.

He lifted his head from my shoulder and gave me a smile. His smile was a real one, not the one that he always wore on his face. "That's wonderful!" he shouted out. He got up and picked me up in his arms and swung me around. "That's wonderful!" He finally set my feet on the ground and he grabbed my shoulders. He leaned his head down and kissed me for the third time. Except this time, he kissed me gently, it wasn't like the strong kisses that he had given me before. This one was different, it was full of happiness, real happiness.

"I'm going to make you see," he said, wiping away my tears with a tissue he had in his pocket.

I didn't think it was possible for a guy like him to actually have feelings for me. He picked up my cell phone for me put his number in before laying it in my right hand. He laced his fingers through my left hand fingers and started walking with me in tow. He walked me to my next class. I closed my eyes for a bit before going into the classroom, and he took that moment to lay a kiss on my forehead. I stepped away from him and he gave me a smile before walking away.

I got elbowed softly by someone, and when I turned around, it was Ayumi. She leaned in and whispered, "So when did you start dating a third year, Faye? We are only second years. Not only that, but the guy you seem to be dating is none other than the player Fuji Shusuke from the boys' tennis team! You are so going to get in trouble if you don't watch your back!"

It was then that I noticed how many of the girls in my class were glaring at me. I was a bit happy that they were jealous. I was happy because it was then that I realized that I really was kind of together with Fuji Shusuke. Earlier, I was depressed because I thought that he was just using me. But he had said he liked me, and he was so happy when he found out that I might stay. The feeling of being in love, and of being loved back was something completely different from any other feeling I had ever experienced. It was a good feeling. A very good feeling.

During the next few days, Fuji ended up spending a lot of his time with me. He had already told all of my friends what I was planning to do, so they always ended up hanging out with me too. They were all trying to convince me to stay. Tsubaki was the only one who said that even though she wanted me to stay, she wasn't going to force me to if it meant giving up my dream. I thought about her words constantly while I was having fun with everyone. My life had turned from okay to very good. Did I want to give up everything I had now just to go and complete my dream? I still didn't have the answer. I think during that three day period, I fell even more in love with Fuji. He was trying so much just to keep me in Japan. He had kept up to all of his promises except for two. One was that I still didn't think that he was in love with me yet, and the second was that he didn't "completely make me his" yet. He protected me, he kept me happy, he didn't do anything with other girls again, and he showed me that he really did like me.

Friday night, I was lying in my bed. I still couldn't make up my mind. I was at the happiest point in my life so far, I didn't want to give that up yet. But my dream. It was something that I had always wanted.

I heard the doorbell ring and I ran down the stairs to answer it. It was Fuji standing there with a bouquet of various flowers.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm going to take you out on a date," he replied, handing me the flowers.

"But I'm not dressed properly."

"It doesn't matter what you wear. You're always perfect."

I took the flowers and handed them to my mom and told her I was going on a date. I swear, she almost fainted from joy when she heard that. I ignored her little squeals of happiness and her mutterings of saying that I was no longer a kid.

I put on my shoes and followed Fuji out the door.

"So where are you taking me?" I asked.

"Somewhere special. Today is Friday, and tomorrow is your audition. So I want to make tonight so special, that you'll never want to leave my side ever again," he replied, the same old smile on his lips.

I didn't know where he was leading me, but we were going to . . . the river?!

"Um, the river?" I asked.

"This is not the place. I have to stop you right here, because I want it to be a surprise," he said. He put his hand over my eyes and led me to a different place.

"Okay, on the count of three, open you eyes, okay?" he instructed.

"Yes, sir," I joked.

He lifted his hand and counted to three. My breath hitched in my throat when I saw what was before me. We were at a lake, the most beautiful lake I had ever seen in my life. There were flowers floating all over the surface. I reached into the water and grabbed an orchid out of it. I looked back to the lake and noticed that there were also candles in holders floating on the lake.

"It's beautiful," I whispered.

"I did it for you. I want you to stay with me," he whispered in my ear. "There's a second part to this date too. So be patient."

I sat down at the edge of the lake and just stared at it. I couldn't remember ever seeing anything more beautiful than that lake just then. Fuji sat next to me with his arm around my waist. I leaned against him and he hugged me. We talked about nothing in particular, and the air was light and sweet.

After awhile, Fuji stood up and pulled me along with him. "Are you ready for the second part?" he asked. "I'll have to cover your eyes again."

"That's fine with me," I said.

Once again, he led me to a different spot and lifted his hand once we got there. We were in a field full of bellflowers. The beautiful white, bell-shaped flowers drooped down a bit like they were suppose to. But that wasn't the beautiful thing, there were fireflies all over the place. There were millions of them. I didn't understand how Fuji was able to pull of such things, or how he was able to find such places of beauty.

He leaned over and plucked one of the bellflowers. He reached his hand out into the mass of fireflies, and one of them landed on his index finger. He put the flower against his finger and the firefly immediately flew into the flower right away. Fuji turned back to me and handed me the flower, it glowed bright yellow like a lantern, except it was much better. He still held the flower, even though he was holding it out to me. I reached out and held his hands in mine while he was still holding the flower. We were both holding it.

"Faye," he whispered, "I'm in love with you now."

I looked up at him. "Really? Are you sure?

"Yes, with all of my heart I am in love with you now. I have never been more sure of anything in my life. So promise me this, so that I can fulfill the last promise I made you."

"What is it?"

He leaned in close to me. He was so close I could feel his breath on my face. He leaned his forehead against my own forehead and whispered, "Promise me that you'll love me forever. Promise me that you'll truly be mine."

"I promise," I whispered back, leaning forward and capturing his lips in mine.

We stayed like that for a long time, just kissing each other while holding on to that bellflower which signified our promises to each other.

* * *

It was the next morning. Fuji had asked me what my answer was to his question of would I stay or not. I told him I had to think about it and that I would tell him that Saturday night. It was in that kiss last night that I decided what I was going to do.

I rode my bike to the dance studio during the time my audition was. I did ballet for the guy to see. And . . . I got accepted. I didn't think I would get accepted. I rode my bike back home and told my parents and brother the results. They were happy for me, but I couldn't leave everyone. I had to stay. I was in love, and I couldn't leave my friends, and I especially couldn't leave Fuji. Being away from him would hurt too much

I called the man and told him that I would not be going to New York, I would be staying here. He told me it was a big mistake, and then . . .

* * *

I was crying. I was crying like I had never cried before in my life. I had never cried like that before. Not when my grandpa died, not when I thought that Fuji was just using me, not when I had to leave America, and not when I had thought that I would never win against Roshe as a dancer. I hugged Roshe with all of my strength.

"Promise me you'll give it to him," I sobbed.

"I promise," Roshe replied, giving me a hard hug back.

"Please be happy, and be sure to always email me everyday."

"Of course I will. I'm happy for you. This is a once in a lifetime chance."

I turned around and waved at Roshe, I could see him wave back at me. I hesitated for a moment before I stepped up and boarded the plane to go to New York so I could be Odette in the production of Swan Lake.

_'I'm so sorry everyone. I'm so sorry, Fuji.'_ I thought those things as the plane began to lift itself up into the air.

I had written Fuji a note, and Roshe was going to deliver it. It went like this:

_Dear Fuji,_

_ I am so sorry, but I have to leave. I love you so much. I have never loved anyone as much as I love you. Like our promise, I will always love you, I will never fall out of love with you, and I will always be yours, even if we can't be together. We will always be together in my heart and in my mind, even if we are not physically together. I love you more than my life. These words might not mean much, but I am writing from my heart. I didn't want to leave you, but I had to do this. I have always wanted this. Please, I am not asking you to wait for me, but I will return to you someday and make you fall in love with me again if you ever fall out of love with me. I only love you, and I will only love you. I won't let anyone else have you, ever.  
_

_Love,  
Your dearest Faye_

_

* * *

_Sorry for so much lovey doveyness in this everyone! It's just that I was listening to this one song while writing this, and you guys should really listen to it too while rereading this. It's called Liang Shan Bo yu Zhu Li Ye.

**_Please Review! Reviews would definitely motivate me to update sooner!_**

**_If you want to see what Faye looks like, the link to her picture is up on my profile._**


	6. New Year Swing Dancing

Hello evreyone! Sorry I haven't updated for so long. My laptop actually broke, so I sent it into Geeksquad and they fixed it amazingly without deleting anything! So I'm back now and Geeksquad did a great job.

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**Chapter Six**

**New Year Swing Dancing**

I held my gaze outside of the window. It had been five years since I was in Japan. I was then twenty-one years old. My heart beat furiously against my chest as the plane touched down to the ground again. I could feel my breath increasing with every second that came and passed. It had also been five years since I was in this airport. I had traveled to many places with my ballet troupe, performing Swan Lake all over. It was something extra that we did. Only the most talented dancers would get to perform in that troupe, the one that had regular practices at the New York Metropolitan Opera House.

I walked out of the plane and towards the baggage pickup. Standing right at the bottom of the escalator was my brother Roshe. I immediately ran and gave him a hug. It had been so long since I had last seen him. The last time was a year ago when he and Midori finally got married. They were both twenty when they married, and now they were twenty-one.

"Hey there, Dancer," Roshe said.

I smiled at the nickname that Roshe had always used to address me. I said, "It's been a long time. How are you and Midori?"

"We're fine. Busy as usual. Especially now."

"Now?"

"Yup." A smile crept up on Roshe's face. "Didn't I tell you? I must have forgotten. Midori's pregnant."

"What?! Why didn't you tell me this? How many months?" I asked.

"I didn't tell you because I wanted to tell you in person, and she's only been pregnant for about one month. I figured I could wait until you came back." Roshe still had that smile on his face.

"Wow, I never thought you would become a dad so soon," I said.

"Neither did I," he admitted.

He walked me over to the rotating conveyor belt that had a tunnel that spit out luggage. Roshe easily spotted my sleek red bags and got them.

"So . . ." he started.

I knew what he wanted to talk about, I just didn't want to hear it. It had been a long time, and I didn't need any reminding of the past. I was over it, _he_ was over it, and we were both over. Even after everything that went on between us, it just couldn't work out. I could not tell you how many times I picked up the phone, intending to call him, but I always hung up without dialing a single number. He never called me either, and it was a sign that he never wanted to speak to me again. If he truly loved me, he would have at least called.

"I want to know one thing," I admitted to Roshe.

"And what is that?" he asked.

"What was his reaction when you gave him the letter?"

"He was surprised. Surprised at the fact that you wrote him a letter. He thought that you were still in Japan and that you weren't planning on leaving. He thought you were staying, so when he read the letter, the only emotion I saw was shock, sadness, and anger. Lots and lots of anger."

"He must hate me then."

"No. He wasn't angry at you. I could tell that he was angry at himself. Angry that he couldn't do anything to make you change your mind. He was angry at himself for not being able to convince you to stay. I don't think he's angry at you. I think he's happy for you. He knew that this was your dream."

"Then why does it feel like I owe him some sort of apology?"

"You do. You owe him an apology for leaving and not saying anything. A letter isn't the best way to say good bye you know."

I was such an idiot. My hand tightened on the bag I was holding, and I wanted to start to cry. The truth of the matter was that I wasn't completely over Fuji yet. We were over, and he was over me, and I somehow convince myself that I was over him, but that wasn't the truth. A part of me still yearned for him, for his touch, and his love. But that was impossible, because I had left him all alone without saying anything until after I was gone. I should have called, but I just settled for the letter.

"Do you want to see him again?" he asked.

"No I don't. It will be a mistake to do so. You said so yourself," I replied.

"Yes . . . I'm so sorry Faye. I should have talked to him more or something."

"No . . . it wasn't your fault that he got engaged. He found someone else. Someone better than me, and he fell in love for the first time. Don't be sorry. It's not your fault, Roshe. It's my own for not doing anything."

I held back my tears by biting my lip. I didn't want to show Roshe any weakness. I didn't want him to see how crushed I was by the news that he had emailed me. Roshe would worry, and I didn't need him worrying. He had his wife to take care of, and he would be even more busy because of his wife's pregnancy.

"Thank you for letting me stay with you," I said, trying to change the subject.

"No worries, you know that you're my sister, and Midori absolutely loves you too, so don't worry about it," Roshe said. "I mean, you're going to be a big help. After all, now that there's a kid on the way, I think you would be able to help Midori while she was going through all the stages of pregnancy."

"Yeah, of course I'll be able to help. We're all family now."

There was no turning back for me. My career as a dancer had been cut short. Too short. I was only able to be a dancer for five years. I wasn't saying that I wouldn't be able to get another dance job, I just wouldn't be able to go back to my old one. The ballet troupe that I had been in was probably the best one in the world, and they had a zero tolerance for injury. So when I fractured a bone in my ankle, I was immediately kicked out until further notice. I went back to Japan for that reason. I was able to walk again, but I wasn't able to dance yet. I needed another year or so in recuperation. As soon as that was over . . . I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I didn't know if I wanted to stay in Japan and try to find work, or if I was going to leave the country again.

The drive to Roshe's house didn't take as long as I thought it would. I was used to the heavy New York traffic, and even though Tokyo had a lot of traffic, it was nothing compared to New York. Midori greeted me with open arms, and she was even crying. I didn't know if that was really her tears because she missed me or because she was overemotional because of the pregnancy. Midori didn't have a belly yet, it was only one month after all, but I had probably expected something like a giant bulging stomach. That was the impression that I got when I thought about pregnant people.

"How was New York?" Midori asked.

"It was fine. Heavy traffic, lots of dark alleys, big buildings. What can I say? It's in the country that I grew up in. I loved it," I replied.

I played with the food on my plate. I didn't eat as much as it looked like I did. I just swished the food around my plate in patterns. I didn't eat nearly as much as I did. I didn't know why, but my metabolism must have changed when I went back to America.

"Is it okay if I go to bed early?" I asked.

"Yes of course!" Midori replied. "We understand that you're tired from your long flight."

"Thank you."

I headed up the stairs and into a room that had no personality. There were hints of color here and there, but it was mostly just a white theme. I jumped onto the bed and finally let myself cry. I didn't want Fuji to be with someone else. I only wanted him to be with me. I still loved him, and I hoped that when I came back, he would still love me. But he was engaged, engaged to an unknown girl that might or might not have loved him as much I still loved him. My silent sobs echoed in the room, and it was as if I was hearing myself cry about a million times. I didn't expect to sleep that night, but I did. I didn't wake up because of sad dreams or nightmares. I didn't wake up with tears in my eyes. I slept until eight in the morning, and I didn't have any dreams at all. I thought that that was even worse than waking up fitfully with bad dreams.

After I went downstairs, I found that Midori and Roshe both went to work. I didn't want to seem like a worthless moocher, so I decided to get a job at my old dance studio. I hadn't been there in five years.

I grabbed a coat just in case and I decided to walk there. In New York, I never walked anywhere. It was always cabs that I took. So it was nice to walk every once in a while.

I realized that I had broken my promise to Fuji. I said that I wouldn't let anyone else have him, and yet, he had a fiance, so I wasn't doing such a good job on my promises. I would also break another promise. I said that I would come back and make him fall in love with me again, but I wouldn't be able to do that. How could I? I wouldn't try to make him fall in love with me after he was engaged. I didn't want to seem like a man stealer.

The person who owned the dance studio when I was sixteen was still the owner. She welcomed me back and had congratulated me on my success as Odette. She was so happy to see me again, and she had said that it would be an honor to have someone of "my caliber" teach at the dance studio. In the end, I didn't even need to apply with an application. I just needed to appear. Teaching danching now was a lot like teaching when I was sixteen. There were still rookie dancers, and I still got bored easily from the simple dance exercises that I gave them. It wasn't nearly as exciting as dancing at the New York Metropolitan Opera House, but it was still dancing, which made it all the better.

What happened next was pure coincidence. I didn't expect him to be waiting outside. I didn't expect to just walk by like he did. But it was like he knew I was at the dance studio. He was always like that. He always found me, and he always seemed to be where I was at the right time. I stepped outside of the dance studio and ran headfirst into no one other than Fuji Syusuke.

"I'm so sorry," I apologized. I didn't look at his face, he was much taller than me and I was hoping that he wouldn't look at my face too.

"It's fine Miss. I should be apologizing, I should have called out to you or at least stopped you. Is your head hurt? I do hope you're okay, and Miss you seem . . ." \

Fuji stopped talking and his hands raised themselves up and gripped my shoulders. I still refused to say anything to him. I refused to look up at him. I didn't look much different, actually, I didn't look different at all from when I was sixteen. It had been five years and I still looked exactly the same. The only difference was a minor one, and that was that I was a bit more willowy. Fuji looked almost exactly the same too. The years had been good to him and I saw that he was even more in shape. I guessed that he had decided to get even more into tennis after I left. He was maybe a bit taller, I couldn't really tell because he was always so much taller than me. His hair was a bit longer than it was before and it suited him, but his eyes, his amazing blue eyes were still the exact same. Except now they had a hardness in them.

"Faye?" he asked slowly. It was as if he couldn't believe I was truly there.

"Congratulations on your engagement," I replied. I ripped away from his grasp and started walking in the opposite direction.

"Faye!" he called out. In no time he had caught up to me. "I haven't seen you in five years." He looked at me with open eyes, and it made me uncomfortable. It was like he was drinking the sight of me in, to make up for all of the years that he couldn't see me.

"Yeah, five years," I replied.

"How did you hear of my engagement?"

"Roshe told me. I don't know how he knew."

"Well . . . do you want to see her?"

"Why not?" I shrugged my shoulders. I didn't want to seem too interested. I desperately wanted to see what this girl looked like, but I didn't want to seem like I was too eager.

Fuji pulled out his wallet and showed me a picture of a girl. She wasn't short, but she wasn't tall either. Her heart-shaped face was framed by curly brown hair, and her green eyes were constantly smiling. She looked beautiful. About ten times more beautiful that I was. No wonder too, I always felt as if I didn't deserve Fuji.

"You want to get some coffee together?" Fuji asked. He tucked his wallet back into his pocket.

"That would be nice," I said. It would be nice. It would be my last time with Fuji, and I would enjoy it.

We walked to a tiny cafe and sat down at a table that was in a corner. It was light enough and it had the perfect amount of privacy.

"So how did it happen?" I asked, taking a sip of my macchiato.

"The engagement? Well, we were became friends and eventually started dating. I popped the question when we were on a date," he answered.

"How romantic," I replied. It wasn't romantic, and I knew that he wasn't telling me a lot of things on purpose. That answer lacked emotion and detail.

"I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly," I blurted out.

Fuji stared at me for a second, his blue eyes were open and he looked angry and sad at the same time. I couldn't stand it anymore and I broke the gaze first.

"I received your letter," he replied.

"You did?"

"Yes."

There was an awkward silence between us before I finally said, "You know what? I am so sorry Fuji. I truly am, but how about we start off as friends or something?" I wanted to make amends for leaving and not saying anything.

"Friends," he said slowly as if it was a foreign word.

"Yes, friends. What do you think?"

"I think . . . that that . . . will be sufficient."

"Great!" I said. "It's a deal then."

"A deal," he repeated.

I held out my hand and he shook it.

* * *

**_Please Review! Reviews would definitely motivate me to update sooner!_**

**_If you want to see what Faye looks like, the link to her picture is up on my profile._**


	7. Merengue Hope

Hello everyone. Sorry it took so long to update, but I'll definitely update sooner since I'm on a fanfiction craze/addiction at the moment!

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**Merengue Hope **

I regretted what I did. I shouldn't have asked him to be friends. I would get invited to the wedding then. I didn't want to go to his wedding. I didn't need to see what could have happened to me and him if I didn't leave. I didn't need to see any of that at all. I just wished I could have hung out with him and said my good byes. We could be friends, but that didn't mean we had to hang out with each other. He was probably too busy hanging out with his fiance anyways.

It had been a week since I saw Fuji and we didn't try to contact one another. It made me happy that we didn't see each other. I wouldn't have liked to see him anyways. I needed to get a life and to get over him. I was over him . . . but I wasn't. I accepted the fact that he could never be mine, but I wasn't ready to let go just quite yet.

I decided to go grocery shopping because I didn't want Midori to work too hard. She was starting to eat a lot more already, and she also worked; which meant that there wasn't a lot of time for other things. The walk to the grocery store was short and I enjoyed every minute of it. Walking in New York was so tedious. It was also dangerous too with all of the secret pick pockets and wallet thieves. That was why walking in Tokyo was so refreshing. Also, in America, the air was always so polluted, but Japan always was one of the cleanest countries.

The fates decided to hate me today. They just did. While I was at the store, I saw a very familiar face. I didn't know her, but I recognized her. It had been a week since I saw her face, but I would now be able to recognize that face anywhere. It was Fuji's gorgeous fiance: Tsuki Ai. Ai . . . her first name meant love in Chinese.

She didn't know me, so I didn't say anything to her. Nothing at all. I got all the stuff I needed and I walked out right away. I ran home. I couldn't stop my tears from running down my cheeks. The truth was painful now. Too incredibly painful.

I couldn't do anything. I would never be able to fulfill my promise to him. That promise that I made five years ago in my letter. I would never be able to make him fall back in love with me. Plus, even if I could, I wouldn't. He was engaged, so I wouldn't interfere in his relationship.

I burst into the house, practically giving Midori and Roshe heart attacks. I dropped the groceries on the counter.

"I'm so sorry!" I whispered fiercely before running upstairs. Roshe had probably seen my tears.

I ran to the bed that was in the guest room. It was meant for me, so I jumped on it and hid under the covers. I heard the door creak open, and I assumed it was Roshe, coming to comfort me, as usual. But it was Midori.

"Faye," she whispered.

I looked up at her through my tears and wiped them away as best as I could with my sleeve. I spoke in a soft voice, "Sorry for the outburst, Midori. I don't want you worrying about me, you have to worry about yourself first! You're pregnant, and I dont' want to strain you or anything."

Midori huffed out in annoyance before giving me a fiery look directly into my eyes. "Now listen here, I may be pregnant, but I'm not weak and I won't get strained! Also, don't give me that speech, because now you're my sister-in-law and I love you and I worry about you. We're family now, so don't just think that you can worry for me without my permission while I'm not allowed to worry for you. So now, you have no permission to worry about me." There was a twinkle of determination in Midori's eyes as she said that. She gave me a smile as soon as she was done and I gave her a small smile back.

I sighed, finally giving in to Midori's request before whispering, "I still love him, but he's engaged, and it just became so much more real because I saw her at the grocery store this morning."

"What? How do you know what she looked like?"

"Fuji showed me a picture of her when we met last week. We agreed to be friends. In fact, I brought it up. I can't ever fulfill my promise to him now that he's engaged."

"What promise was that?"

I blushed extremely and didn't answer.

"Oh, I get it. You don't have to tell me Faye. But you know what? I bet you haven't seen your friends from high school in a long."

"I haven't."

"Did you stay in contact?"

"I did."

"Then go and call one or more of them up and hang out!"

"That's a good idea, thank you Midori."

I picked up my cell phone and started scrolling through the list. I knew that some of my friends weren't even in the city anymore. Some of them had moved, and others had gone to college outside of the city. And even some of them had decided to go abroad.

I knew of one person who would still be here no matter what. I waited while the phone rung until I heard her voice on the other end. "Tsubaki?" I asked.

"Yes? This is she."

"It's me, Faye. I'm back in Japan."

"Faye? Why are you back in Japan? A break?"

"No, I'm back for good."

Silence on the other end for a moment. "Do you want to meet?"

"I would be grateful if we could Tsubaki."

"How about right now then? I'm free."

"Now would be fine. Where?"

"What about that diner we always used to go to?"

"That would be great."

We hung up with "see you soon's" and I ran down the stairs just to get my old bike. I knew that even if I left now and pedaled furiously on my back, Tsubaki would still be there first. She had her drivers, and she had her two strange bodyguards.

I saw her through one of the huge windows when I arrived there. She looked exactly the same. Short black hair that went to her chin and was a bit wavy. It curved around her face and cupped it, almost as if it was a lover's hand. She looked a bit more mature. She always looked mature, but now that she was older, there seemed to be more of an authenticity about it. She was still as drop-dead gorgeous as ever.

Reluctantly, I approached her. "Tsubaki?" I ventured to call out.

Her head turned to me immediately and she smiled. One of her small smiles. "Hello there Faye. It's been a long time. I'm glad to see you again."

When she stood up for a hug, I just plowed right into her and squeezed her with all my might. I didn't realize how much I missed my old friends. They were always supportive and they were all I could ever ask for. They were perfect, and I missed them so much. I missed Koizumi's daredevilness, Saori's fierce (and sometimes angry) way of speech, Miki's way of knowing what someone was thinking, Aine's kindheartedness, Ayumi's haughty speech, Tsubaki's emotionless face, and most of all, I missed how we all felt the same way about certain things. It made us closer, and that's what counted.

After the hug, we both sat down and ordered a drink.

"How have you been?" she asked.

"My ankle still hurts sometimes, but I'm healing. I can dance again, for the most part, but that's not enough to convince my dance troupe to take me back as Odette. I won't even be taken back to play an unimportant character."

"That's too bad." Tsubaki had a sincere frown on her face. Her mouth was like an upside-down V. "You were a great dancer, Faye. They should be at a loss without you. I mean, when you left Seigaku High, us girls on the tennis team didn't know what to do either. We just couldn't act the way we acted before."

"I'm sorry about leaving so suddenly. I didn't mean to. I mean, I wanted to leave, but I just couldn't bear to say good bye to anybody. That's why I told you guys after I was already gone and in New York."

"It's okay. We all understood your decision. It was your dream to do that, and we weren't going to make you stay if that's what you really wanted."

"Thank you," I whispered.

It was quiet. The only sounds were those of the other people in the diner talking. I could hear bacon sizzling on the griddle, and the painfully loud sounds of people's silverware scraping and clanking against their plates full of pancakes.

"Tell me what's on your mind exactly, Faye." Tsubaki commanded. "I have a feeling you didn't just ask me to come here to make small talk with you."

I sighed before answering, "We're friends Tsubaki. I wanted to see you because of that. I needed to get out of the house, and I thought we could get reacquainted."

"There's something else on your mind too though isn't there?"

Tsubaki had practically read my mind.

"It's about Fuji being engaged isn't it?" she asked.

I nodded my head slowly. I willed my tears to go back in my head as I thought about it once again.

"I guess you really can't do anything about it," Tsubaki finally admitted with a sigh. "He's engaged. It's not like you could break it up."

"I don't want to break it up. I think I deserve this punishment for leaving him without actually saying good bye. Also, I never tried to contact him either," I whispered.

"There are a lot of fish in the sea." Tsubaki smiled at me when she said that.

I smiled back at her because it was just one of those cliché sayings that made me laugh whenever it was used to try and comfort me. I had to admit though, Tsubaki was right. There were other guys out there. I just had to get over Fuji and go and find them. The sooner I got over him, the sooner my life would be back on track. I couldn't sulk about a guy that I would never get to have ever again. For pete sake he was engaged!

"Thank you again Tsubaki," I managed to say with a smile on my face.

"There's no need to thank me." Tsubaki fiddled with a diamond ring on her left ring finger and that's when I noticed for the first time that she was wearing a ring. She kept twisting the diamond to the right and then to the left and then she would keep doing that. She looked a bit uncomfortable wearing the ring.

"Don't tell me," I gasped. "Are you _engaged_?"

Tsubaki gave me a wry smile before saying, "Yes I am. I can't believe it either."

"You don't look very happy. Is it an arranged marriage? Or are you just saying yes without actually loving the guy?"

"I love him. I love him a lot. I'm just surprised that he asked that's all. Also, I'm not used to wearing a ring like this. I feel as if everyone is always staring at it and it makes me a bit uncomfortable." Tsubaki looked up with a sincere smile this time. Her cheeks were painted a pale pink color from her blush.

"So who's the lucky groom?" I propped my elbows on the table and plopped my face in between my hands.

Tsubaki blushed a deep red color now. Wow, I guess love really started to bring out her emotions. She wasn't the emotionless captain that I was used to anymore. She was _blushing_ now.

"So . . . ?" I prompted.

"It's Tezuka Kunimitsu," she whispered.

"What?" My mouth fell open and I almost choked on the drink I was drinking. I coughed a few times before saying, "_Tezuka Kunimitsu_? I thought he was too stoic to ever fall in love! I never expected him to ever get married! I mean, he's just so . . . emotionless and serious about everything. He was never interested in anyone before, so I'm a bit surprised, sorry."

Tsubaki laughed a bit at what I said. "It's okay, Faye. I know he's stoic and everything, but . . . it just happened. I mean, we were already friends in high school, and then when you left we started hanging out with each other more and one thing led to another."

"I just can't believe it! It's a lot to wrap my head around. Tezuka Kunimitsu. Wow. Anyone else we know married or getting married?"

"Not that I've heard of. I mean, most of them are pretty far away now. I think Aine is in Okinawa now teaching a class at an art school or something."

"Gosh, she's only twenty-one and she's teaching?"

"Yeah, there's no age limit, as long as she has experience."

"Okinawa sure is far away huh?"

"It is."

We were both silent as we thought about the old days. The days where all of us (except Tsubaki) had hated the boys' team and had all competed with them in tennis. When we were still all together working hard to get to the nationals and to be the number one team in the region.

"You're still dancing right Faye?" Tsubaki asked.

"Yes, I am," I replied a bit shocked. I would never stop dancing.

"That's good then." Tsubaki gave me a smile and I could see it in her eyes. Tezuka sure had made her happy. Tsubaki looked at her watch. "I have to go now. I'm going to be late for my dress fitting if I don't leave now. I'll talk to you again, okay Faye? Oh, and I sent an invitation to the wedding to your brother, please come too."

"I'll talk to you later Tsubaki."

We hugged one more time before we both left. Tsubaki had paid for the bill.

Since Tsubaki had brought up my dancing. I decided to go to the studio. I found myself going there more and more often. I went there whenever I felt sad or angry or just overall bad. I found myself there in no time, and as I got there, I tried to look at all of the guys. I took in Tsubaki's advise and I tried to notice other guys, but it just wasn't working quite yet. Maybe because I didn't give up on Fuji yet either.

When I got there, my boss had introduced me to a new instructor who would also be working there. It was a man. His name was Kuro Jin. He was really good-looking. I was told that he was twenty-four years old and that he would be working hours with me. My boss thought I might need someone to help me teach. He had short and wavy black hair and brown eyes. He was muscled as well as Fuji, but not quite as tall.

"Hello," I said to him.

"Hello," he replied with a smile. He had dimples when he smiled.

"My name is Fay Morgan."

"I know. Our boss told me all about you. I hope we can get along. I heard that you danced as Odette in America. You had to be quite amazing to do that. I have no doubt in my mind that you're probably one of the best dancers."

I blushed at the praise. "Thank you, but I don't think I'm that good. After all, I got injured, and I was kicked out of the troupe."

"That's different. They didn't kick you out because you were bad, but because you had an injury, so how about you say we dance a little bit to see if we can work well together."

"That sounds great."

I took his hand and we glided out to the middle of the studio. We had both decided to do the merengue. He pulled me up really close to him because that's how you dance a merengue. It was a difficult dance because it had a lot of intricate steps, but we were able to do it. We would step away from each other in a sideways motion and then we would end up close again. Chest to chest. We moved in a circular motion and continued that way for a long time. I couldn't remember when I had this much fun dancing. The last time I felt chemistry like this was when I first danced with Fuji.

Maybe Tsubaki was right. There were other fish in the sea, and I was starting to feel hopeful. Maybe I could get a relationship with Jin. We had perfect chemistry together on the dance floor.

When we stopped, we were both looking at each other incredulously. It didn't feel like a regular dance to either of us. He grabbed my hand and said, "I guess we do work well together. Our bodies moved perfectly on the dance floor, and we had total chemistry."

I smiled back in reply.

I leaned into him a bit. I could feel my hope getting bigger like a balloon. I wanted to be closer to him, and when he hugged me, my balloon of hope got even bigger, but then the balloon popped. I was pulled out of his arms and dragged away. For a moment, I didn't know who was dragging me away. I was so surprised, but when I looked up to yell at the person, I saw that it was Fuji, and he had a furious expression on his face.

He turned back to Jin and shouted, "Stay away from Faye!" He looked down at me again and his expression was still furious. I was so confused. Why was he acting this way? Why was he furious at me and at Jin? Why did he tell Jin to stay away from me? A million questions crossed my mind as Fuji pulled me away from the dance studio. In the back of my mind, I noted that he held my arm where he always held it. Before we had gotten together, he would always pull me around by my arm, and he would always grab at the exact same spot. I noticed then, that he still held my arm in that exact same spot.

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_**Everyone, I would appreciate it if you all reviewed. It boosts my confidence a lot when I get good reviews and it makes me want to push out another chapter sooner. So if you have the time, I would love it so much if you guys reviewed.**_


	8. Dance With Me As A Friend?

Hey everyone! I decided to write a semi-happy chapter this time. So while Faye is being all sad everyone, Fuji decides to be a good person and turn the mood around and just be her friend. Well, maybe more than that, but you'll have to read the chapter to see! Hope you all like it!

Also! Everyone, if you want to know more about the OCs, then please go and check out my **website** for my fanfiction and for the OCs. The link is on my profile, and I would love it all if you would at least check it out. It has detailed profiles on the OCs for anyone interested.

So I have a question for you all . . . you know that I've done a fanfiction based on a drama right? Love Typhoon is based on Momo Love, so I was wondering, should I do a story that's based on the drama Easy Fortune, Happy Life?

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**Chapter Eight**

**Dance With Me As A Friend?**

I struggled to keep up with Fuji as he dragged me away from my dance studio and Jin. I was confused on why he was doing this. He was _engaged_ for pete's sake! That wasn't something he was allowed to do anymore. As soon as we passed the park that wasn't that far from his home, I yanked my arm out of his grip. He couldn't just do something like drag me away from someone. I wasn't going to drag him away from the girl he was engaged to.

"What are you doing?" I screeched.

"I'm taking you away from him." Fuji had turned to face me with his eyes open.

I locked my knees and took a deep breath before looking into his eyes. There was a serious expression on his face, and even though he looked angry, I couldn't help but almost gasp from the look of his blue eyes on me.

"You had no right to do that," I calmly said. "You can't do that anymore!" I said that a bit louder and my voice went up a few octaves as I continued. "We're not together anymore so you can't do that! Not only that, but you're _engaged_! You're not with me anymore. It would be a different story if you didn't have someone, but you _do_!"

He didn't say anything to my outburst. He just continued to look at me with those eyes. I felt it pierce my heart, and it hurt so bad. It wasn't like Cupid's arrow when it pierces a heart, it was like a pair of rusty scissors plunged right into my heart. I hated how he still affected me.

Since he didn't say anything, I continued, "You don't understand how I still feel about you!" I bent over a little bit and my hands rested on my knees. "You don't understand at all! I thought that I might just be able to get over you because I met someone new, someone I had _chemistry_ with. I thought that this might be the guy for me. You were the guy for me, but not anymore because I can't be with you again! That might have been the guy that I would have gotten married to because of how we both felt when we danced with each other. It was an undeniable tug for both of us. He could have been _the one_. The one after you because you were _the one_."

I stopped and took a deep breath. I had said all of that so fast, and all the while I was trying to keep my tears back. My breathing came out in shudders and I closed my eyes so that I wouldn't be able to look at him. I didn't want to look at him. I felt no shame in admitting all of that. I didn't feel anything at all. Just anger because of what he did.

I turned away from him because I didn't want to look at him when I opened my eyes. I needed to get back to Roshe's place. It was far from here. I didn't even know exactly where _here _ was. I just knew that it was a park close to Fuji's old place, but he was going in the wrong direction. He wasn't leading me to his house, he was leading me somewhere else.

"I'm going to go home now," I whispered.

"No," he said sternly.

I got really angry then. I turned around to face him. "How dare you tell me where I can go? Where would I go if I'm not allowed to go home?"

I didn't realize I was hitting him until I saw my fists pounding on his chest as if I was a child trying to hit an adult. He just let me hit him until I was satisfied. I would never be satisfied though, I wanted to hit him because it was so unfair for me. It hurt and I didn't want it to continue anymore. I kept hitting him, as if with each blow I gave him a part of my pain shot out of me and into him, but that wasn't how I worked. I still felt all of the pain, and I doubted that he felt any.

I eventually stopped. My hands just dropped to my sides and that was when I let my tears overflow my eyelids. I could feel them running down my cheeks and off of my chin. Why did I let him see my weakness? It was probably the worst thing I could have done then. "I should have stopped that kiss the first night you were with me," I whispered. "I'm really going to go now."

He grabbed onto my arm again, and this time, he didn't let go. No matter how much I struggled, no matter how much I pulled, he still held it as tightly as ever and it was impossible to break free.

"Why won't you let me go?" I whispered softly. It seemed as if I was the only one talking.

He finally replied, "I don't want you to go back that way."

"And why not?"

"I don't want you to run into _him_. You'll have to walk past your dance studio, and I don't want you to go back and see him again."

The sun was just starting to set, and it made the whole world red and purple. It would have been a beautiful and romantic thing if we were both still together.

I realized then that Fuji had a knack. It was strange, but whenever I was at my dance studio, he would somehow appear there too. Even when we were teenagers it was like that. When I went there to practice, he would arrive too to practice with me. And then the day I came back to Japan I came to the dance studio to see if I could still have my old job back, and he was outside. Then that day when I was dancing with Jin, he had seen me and had come inside to pull me away from him.

"Where will I go if I can't go home?" I asked him.

He paused for a long time thinking. He didn't seem to have an answer, but then he sighed and said, "Do you want to spend the night at my apartment?"

"What?" I took a step back from him and poked my two index fingers together. What did he mean? "You . . . you have a fiancée though!"

A funny expression suddenly popped up on his face. He put his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing. "I didn't mean it in that way!" he finally said after his laughter subsided.

"Oh . . ." I felt heat creep up to my cheeks in embarrassment.

"You're so naïve," he chuckled. His hand reached up to ruffle my hair and he was shaking with laughter.

"So . . . are you offering me a place to sleep at tonight?" I cautiously asked.

"As in a couch or in the guest bedroom yes," he chuckled again.

"Hey!" I shouted. "What's so funny with what I said?"

"You're reactions are just so funny, and not only that, but your train of thought too." He paused for a moment and poked me in the middle of my forehead with his index finger.

I stuck my tongue out at him and shoved him into the slide.

He laughed some more as he hit the slide gently. He held out his hand and bowed, asking, "So is that a yes my lady?"

I thought for a moment, tapping on my chin for a long time. He rolled his eyes at my obvious delay.

"You're doing this to annoy me right?" he asked.

"Yup. You guessed it right. Oh, and as for the answer, I guess it'll be a yes since you're so adverse to me going back the way I came."

His face darkened for a moment at the thought of Jin, but then it became playful again. He held out his arm to me. "So let's go."

I grabbed onto his arm and smiled. This is what friends did right? They joked around like this? Maybe it would be a good night. Maybe for tonight, we could just be friends. Not together, and not as enemies either. This would be a first time for us, friends. I tested the word out in my mind and I liked it. I liked this friendly atmosphere with him. It was different, but in a good way. It was playful and funny and not at all serious and dramatic like how it was a moment ago. Amazing how we were able to turn such a serious conversation into a silly one so quickly.

We went to his apartment and it looked very very very expensive. I wondered how he could afford all of it. We went in the elevator and Fuji pressed the button to the top floor. My mouth fell open and I looked at him.

"The penthouse? Are you serious?" I asked.

He gave me a questioning look with his eyes closed. "What's wrong with the penthouse?"

"N-n-nothing!" I stuttered. I mentally yelled at myself for stuttering. "I was just wondering how you could afford such a . . . such a place!"

He chuckled. Again. I noticed that he was doing that quite a bit. Was I so funny?

I coughed as a signal for him to stop laughing.

He composed his face and replied, "After you left, I started taking more seriously, and I got into pros by the time I was out of high school. Practically all of the tennis stars from every school did. Japan probably has the most pros right now."

I thought for a minute on what he was saying. "What about Tezuka?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked back at me.

"Did he ever go pro? I mean, I know that in middle school he could have gone if he wanted to, if it wasn't for his elbow."

"Tezuka . . . the one we thought would all go pro, but he decided to go to medical school and study up on pharmaceuticals instead. He's still going to school, but I see that he's been getting 'friendly' with your old tennis captain."

"I think we can both say that it's more than 'friendly' they're engaged after all. Just like you are."

"Well, you see, the thing is, Tezuka doesn't seem like the type of guy to propose." Fuji stopped and started laughing for a moment. "It's hard for him to show emotion, so in order to propose to your old captain, he asked for help from all of the people who are either engaged or married right now."

"Wait," I asked. I held up my hand to stop him from talking. "Are you saying that the engagement is _recent_? Why didn't Tsubaki tell me that?" I slapped my palm to my forehead while Fuji opened the door to his penthouse.

"Well are you ready to see my penthouse?" he asked cautiously.

"I guess I'm as ready as ever," I replied.

He opened the door and all I saw were stars. His penthouse was mostly windows, and it looked out to the city and to the sky. The dark buildings with the lights on in the windows also looked like stars somehow to me.

"Beautiful," I muttered.

"That's why I got it," he admitted. He coughed and I broke away from my trance. "Let me show my beloved and humble friend where she's going to sleep tonight."

"Okay."

Fuji was being really nice. It was because he didn't want me to get angry at him again. He was joking around with me as if we were actually friends. His actions earlier were inappropriate for someone who wasn't my boyfriend anymore. I guess this friendliness was his way of apologizing and saying that he would behave like a friend to me because that's what friends did.

Every time our hands accidentally brushed though, or every time we touched or laughed, I could feel my heart speed up quite a bit. I thought he would be able to hear it, but he didn't. I didn't want to feel like that for him anymore. I just wanted to be friends. I had just gotten a taste of what being friends with him felt like, so I wanted to stay that way. I wanted to forget my feelings for him and just be his friend because that way, there was no hurt involved in it at all.

"This is a nice place," I commented.

"See what being a pro can do?" he joked.

"Yeah, I do see," I whispered back. I did know what it was like to be a pro. Not a professional tennis player, but a professional _dancer_ before it all came crashing down.

I sat on the couch and pulled my knees up to my chest to hug them. Fuji gave out a sad sigh and sat down next to me. He put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a half hug. I liked it waaaay more than I was supposed to. It was something that friends would do, but I still couldn't keep my heart from racing. I knew that we had both decided to be friends, it was me who wanted it, but why did I still have feelings for him then? I had to abolish them soon.

"So tell me what happened," Fuji demanded. "You never told me about why you're not in New York dancing as Odette anymore in Swan Lake."

"It's complicated," I admitted. "It's just that the troupe had zero tolerance for injuries, that's all."

"You got hurt?" He sounded really worried, and I didn't want him to sound worried.

"Yeah, I slipped down the stairs and hurt my ankle, but it's almost okay now. It'll take six months to heal, but it doesn't hurt or anything so I can still dance as long as I don't strain it too much."

"You hurt your ankle? You slipped down the _stairs_? How many flights?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does to me."

"Well, I was so terrified I don't even remember how many flights."

He sighed. "Well I hope you're doing okay."

"I'm doing okay for a person who lost her dream and then comes back to find out that her old boyfriend who she was in love with is engaged." I mentally cursed myself again for even bringing that up. He looked away from him and tried to change the subject. "So where's the guest bedroom? I'm getting kind of tired."

He looked at me with a look. "Faye, it's eight o' clock, and stop trying to change the subject. I think this is something we might actually have to talk about."

"No no. Nothing to talk about. I understand. Anyways, I'm really tired with all of the dancing, and crying, and hitting, and meeting up with people today. It's exhausted me, so I'll just go . . . check it out okay?"

He got up and showed me to a room that was simple, but it was nice. I felt as if it had a tropical feel since it had beige and turquoise as its main colors. It was nice though.

"Thanks," I said turning to him. "But I'm going to go run out and get some clothes for tomorrow and for sleeping in tonight okay? I don't want to sleep in these clothes, and I don't want to wear the clothes I'm wearing for twenty-four hours straight. People will think it's weird if they see me going home in the same clothes I came in today."

"No need for that," he said. He went outside and came back again with some clothes. I could clearly see that it was a pair of girls' and guys' clothes.

"I hope you know that I'm just a female," I said. "I'm not both."

He laughed at my comment and said, "I know. The boys' clothing is for you to sleep in, and the girls' is for you tomorrow. I think you're smaller than what I have for girl clothing, so it might be a bit big on you."

I took the clothes he handed me cautiously and asked, "Who do these clothes belong to?" I gave him a suspicious look.

"Don't look at me like that," he teased. "The girls' clothes are my sisters. She came over and stayed once, but she forgot to get her stuff even after I washed it for her. So you can wear it tomorrow and just return it anytime. And the pajamas are mine."

I dropped the girl clothing on the bed and held up the Fuji's shirt and pair of shorts. "These are gigantic!" I exclaimed.

"Are you trying to say that I'm fat?" he teased again.

"No, it's just that you're so much taller than me, and . . . well . . . you're wider too, but not in a fat way. In a muscular way I guess."

"I'm wider than you? I somehow feel as if that's an insult."

"Well it's not, so don't worry."

I paused for a second before asking, "Can I use the guest bathroom?"

He seemed a bit surprised by my actions, but he said yes.

"So goodnight!" I shouted before running to the guest bathroom.

While I was showering, I was suddenly wondering why he was being so . . . _nice_. I mean, I knew he was nice to his friends, but not this nice. This was overdoing it a bit. He was still sadistic and mean to his friends, but this was just . . . too nice. Too creepy. I decided to ask him as soon as I was done showering.

I put on his shirt and it was really long. It could almost have been a dress on me. His shorts were too big so I had to pull the pants together so I fit it and make a lump at the back so I could tie it with a rubber band I found. I felt seriously silly. It looked as if I had a tail, but I just ignored it and I sneaked as quietly as I could into my bedroom and shut the door. All the lights were out so I thought that Fuji was in his room doing . . . well whatever he did.

I turned around to turn on the lights, but I heard a voice that said, "Nice tail you have."

I screamed before scrambling to get the lights on. It was Fuji sitting in an armchair in the corner of the room. "Oh my god, you scared me to death," I said.

"You should have been paying attention." I saw that he was all showered and dressed for bed too.

"What are you doing here other than to comment on how humungous your clothes are on me?"

"Well, I think we should really talk about it. You know, the engagement and everything."

"I think you're talking to the wrong person. There's no need to discuss the engagement with me since I'm not the one marrying you."

He sighed and said, "You know what I meant."

I flopped down on the bed and pulled my knees up to my chest. I got the remote to the TV in the room and I started to flip through the channels. "Well then let's talk about it. There's really nothing to say though. We shouldn't even be discussing this since we're just friends now. It's okay, really."

He got up and sat down next to me on the bed. He took the remote out of my grasp and turned off the TV. "I'm serious here," he said.

I turned to face him straight on. "Okay, then let's talk."

"I guess it must have been a shock to you to find out that I was engaged."

"Well, yeah I guess, but at the same time I was expecting it. I knew you would fall in love."

He gave me an angry look and hit the wall. It surprised me at how angry he became all of a sudden. "I hate it when you talk like that. Ever since you got back, you keep acting as if I never had any feelings for you at all Faye. I hav- I mean I had feelings for you. Don't you understand that?"

"I do. That's why I'm happy for you and her."

"The wedding is coming sooner than you think," he admitted. "It's in a week and I want you to come."

I was shocked. I thought he was getting married in at least a few months. I didn't know it was quite so soon. Before I would say anything that would make us lose our friendship, I took a deep breath, composed myself and said, "That's really soon isn't it? I hope you have a wonderful wedding."

"I want you to come. I send an invitation to your brother. I hope that's okay if you come too."

"Of course I'll come. That's what friends do you know. I'm your friend so I'll come to your wedding." It sounded as if I was trying to convince myself and not him that we were friends.

"That's great then."

"It that all there is to talk about?" I asked. He had somehow ruined my good mood with talk of my engagement.

He sighed and hit the wall again. What did I do this time now? "I also don't like it when you try to pretend that you don't have feelings for me."

I got angry all of a sudden. "Well what do you want me to say? Do you want me to shout to the world that I love you so that everyone can think that I'm a home-wreaking whore? If you want me to do that I'll do it right now."

I jumped up from the bed and ran to the window. I opened it and stuck my head shouted, "Everybody, I'm still in love with Fuji Shusuke even after five whole years of not seeing him! I love him!" I pulled my head back in and shut the window before people would start yelling at me for shouting out a widow like a crazy person. I turned towards him again with my arms folded. "Happy?"

"Somewhat," he admitted with a smile on his face.

"What's with that look?"

"I'm just glad to know you still have feelings for me."

"That's not a good thing you know!" I shouted at him. "It's not good that another girl besides your betrothed has feelings for you! It creates complications for everyone."  
He laughed again.

"This isn't funny you know!"

"Hey Faye," he suddenly said. "How about we dance together one more time right now as friends. That's what you want right?"

"Yes that's what I want! I don't want to be killed by your betrothed's family because I broke you two up."

"So you're admitting that you want to dance with me again."

"No, you said I would be dancing with you as a _friend_."

"So you not only want to be my friend but you also want to dance with me as a friend." He smiled. He had twisted up my words.

I sighed. "Sure, if that's what you want to think than go ahead and think it!"

"So do you want to? Dance with me as a friend?" he asked again.

"Sure, what could the harm be in that."

"Then my _friend_. We'll have to go into the living room."

I followed him and he turned on the music on his iPod which was docked in an iHome. It was a slow song.

He faced me again and held out his hand. I placed one my of hands into his and the other went on his shoulder. One of his hands held mine and the other went on my waist. I remembered that when I was a kid, I always thought that this was the old way of slow dancing. Most people had it with both hands on the waist and shoulders, but we were doing it this way, which made it feel . . . more right somehow. It was cute.

"That's a very stunning dress you have on," Fuji said with a smile.

I coughed before answering, "Yeah, you're so tall, your shirt practically goes down to my knees."

"So how does this feel?" he asked. "Dancing as friends?"

"It feels nice," I admitted.

He pulled me closer. So close to him that our chests were touching. He whispered in my ear, "You know what Faye? I still have feelings for you too. You're not the only one."

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_**Everyone. Thank you for reading, and I hope you review if you have the time. If you don't, I understand. I would just like to thank you all for reading my stories, and I also wanted to say that I get really happy with every review I get because it means that you guys want to read my stories, and I also love it when you all enjoy my stories!^^ Thank you for supporting me everyone. **_

_**If you want to see what the OCs look like . . . go on my profile and check out my website for them! It would be awesome if you could! Thank you. :)**_

_**Also, don't forget to vote for you favorite of my OCs on my profile. **_


	9. Don't Dance Anymore

A/N: Hello everyone! I finally updated this story! Yay! Anyways, here are the people who have one virtual cookie so far: XxVampire27AngelxX, Coco96, OROgoldenpair1, Shinu Mae, AznMistress, hpgrl95, and blackshadow878.

Don't forget guys! The more you review, the more virtual cookies you get, and whoever gets the most at the end of a certain time period will get to request a story of their choice to me. Or I'll write a story dedicated to them either using their OCs or my OCs, whichever they choose.

IMPORTANT: By the way, I was looking for a beta-reader for all of my stories. If you would like to beta me, then message me and tell me which stories you would like to beta. Thank you! My story "Otoshimae or Omiai?" is also not betaed. Only the first chapter is betaed, so please if you want to beta that one, feel free to message me!

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**Chapter Nine**

**Don't Dance Anymore**

"Wait, what?" I asked. My face still buried into his chest. What had he said?

"I . . . I just still have feelings for you," he replied.

"No . . ." I pushed away from him, tripping over my own two feet until I was sitting on my butt in front of him. "It's only one week until you're getting married. Please don't do this."

He stepped over to me and held out his hand. I wanted to look up at him and tell him that what he said made me feel happy. I wanted to jump up and kiss him and hug him and do whatever it took to get him to ask _me_ to marry him. I wanted to do all of that, and yet many many more. I just wanted to be with him and in his arms forever, but I couldn't be. And I wouldn't be. I wouldn't let myself ruin his wedding. He loved her more than he ever did me. He asked her to marry him, so I wouldn't let such sudden and unexpected feelings to resurface.

"Don't do this!" I shouted at him. "Don't ruin the marriage by admitting this to me!" I could feel tears going down my cheeks, but why, I didn't know.

"Please don't cry," he said. He knelt down and wiped away my tears.

"Don't touch me!" I hissed. "Get your hand away from me!"

He sat there looking at me with his eyes opened. He made no move to touch me as I let myself cry some more. I never expected to cry again that day. Especially in front of him too. It made me feel a bit weak, and I wished that I could just shut myself up and be happy with what had just happened, but my heart wouldn't let me do such a thing. I never met his fiancee so I didn't know what to think about her. I just knew that she would be nice though. He would go with nice people, of course he would. Why wouldn't he?

"Just let me have another chance," he whispered.

"What chance is there? You're engaged and getting married in a week!"

"I know that, but please just . . . I didn't want our relationship to end the way that it did, and I just want another chance to set things right again, and then maybe we could break up for real. Instead of what happened."

"You want to make me fall in love with you more just so you and me can break up and then kill me?" I asked.

"Well, I just wanted us to end our relationship in a better way, and don't think that this is just hurting you, this is hurting me too, and it's just that I want to set things right between both of us. I know that I won't be able to stop thinking about you, and that I'll never be able to truly let you go until you agree to this. Please, if you don't do this for me, then eventually it will ruin my marriage."

"I don't think this tiny thing will ruin it."

"You don't understand, it will because of how I feel about you. If we do this then we'll be able to break up for real. And then everything will be resolved. Don't you want that? Some actual real closure?"

I thought about it for a minute. Was it really worth it to do this? I mean, it was hard enough as it is just to be with him as friends, but to give him another chance _just_ so they could break up again wasn't exactly on my list of things that will make me feel better.

"Okay," I whispered. I didn't want to ruin his relationship in any way with his fiancee.

"Thank yo so much," he sighed.

"Mm hm. Well, I think that since this awkwardness has invaded this penthouse, I think it would be best if I go home."

"But you're already dressed to go to sleep," he said.

"Well, that was before you said to me what you just said, and now I think that I should be getting home."

"I'm not going to do anything to you! I swear."  
"Oh, I know that, I'm just saying that it might be bad for _me _ if I stay. Especially with this on my mind."

"Please don't leave." He grabbed onto my wrist. "You promised you would give me another chance, so this can be the beginning."

"We're not getting together you know, we're just kinda sorta doing that so that we can fully break up this time. With no regrets."

"With no regrets," he whispered. "I don't want to die an old man regretting something like this for the rest of my life. I don't want to have to wish every night to turn back the clock and set it right with you."

"I do that," I admitted. "I wish I could do that every night. I wish that I never met you, but at the same time, I wish that I never left so that I could always be with you. I want it to stop too though. I want to end it right this time." I looked at my feet so that I could avoid his gaze, but I couldn't. I found myself looking up right at him and his blue eyes.

"Don't think that I don't regret that either," he whispered as he took my arm in his hand, squeezing tight. "Don't think that I never regretted not going after you or following. It was my fault you left though. If I had been better towards you, if I had done something to make you want to stay, then none of this would have happened. We could have been like Tezuka and Tsubaki."

"But we're not," I mumbled. "You're like that with Ai, and I'm just here, in the way."

"I'm sorry I couldn't have done this better, but I don't want to get married while still having feelings for you like this."

"Let's just end it then," I whispered. "Right now."

"How do we start over though? We very well can't go on a date while I'm engaged."

"Today, we have the whole night together, we can end it tonight."

He nodded his head and he helped me sit down with him on his couch. I didn't exactly know how we were going to "get together" again and then break up. It seemed too weird for me to think about. Even though we agreed to it, this "other chance", I didn't want to do anything with him, because it would be like forcing him to cheat. Cheat on his fiancee.

"How are we going to do this?" I whispered.

Instead of answering me, he leaned over and said, "Kiss me."

"W-w-what?" I stuttered.

"We have to act like we're still in a relationship, so kiss me."

I blushed. I couldn't help it, seeing him so close to me, and hearing him say that to me after so long. I leaned in towards him and let our lips touch a tiny bit. As soon as I leaned in, he did too, applying more pressure to the kiss. I kissed him harder, and it felt exactly like what I thought it would feel like. It felt wrong. It felt like cheating, and betrayal, and lust.

"Stop," I whispered, pushing him away.

"What? Why?" Fuji questioned.

"We can't do this, we really can't. Let's stop now."

"I thought we were going to try and end it right by being in a sort-of relationship again."

"No. It feels too wrong, and I don't want to be a person who will break up a family."

"You won't break us up, we're doing this so that we can fully lose feelings for each other."

"But if she were to find out, then it would be over between you two, and I don't want that."

I stood up from the couch and ran to the bathroom to get changed into my old clothes. I was taking off his shirt when he came in and said, "Are you really leaving? Are we not going to resolve our problems?"

I threw his shirt at him, and shimmied out of his short just to throw it at his face. "It's resolved. You're getting married, and I'm leaving. It's done and over with. There's nothing to resolve if you're already this far into the relationship. I know I promised you 'another chance' so that we could set this right, but I can't do it." I put on my clothes and pushed past him out of the bathroom and into the living room. "Don't follow me," I whispered. "I'm tired of how you make me feel, and I'm going to leave now."

"Wait, Faye," he called out. He gave me a weak smile and said, "I'm still your dance partner, you can't leave until we finish the dance. You stopped us before the music ended."

I gave him a glare and grit out, "Don't joke about this. Don't you ever dance anymore! You have no idea what it feels like to be with you and to lose what I've wanted to be my whole entire life! You have no idea how I am. Don't every try to dance with me ever again!"

I ignored the look he gave me and rushed out the door. I headed towards the dance studio. Dancing would be the only way I could calm myself down and be drowned in nostalgia as strong as that in Swan Lake.

The lights were off and the studio was closed, as expected since it was already ten at night. The time had passed so quickly while I was at Fuji's house, and it made me feel angry at myself. I strapped on my ballet shoes and stood up to test them out. I stood on the tips of my toes to do a pirouette, but as I tried, I found that it hurt to. My ankle still wasn't fully healed, so I couldn't do moves that would further stress it. I banged my head against the mirrors that surrounded the room and looked at myself in the mirror. The person I saw then was different than the girl that left Japan to pursue her dream in New York. _I _was different, and there was no going back on it. People changed, but to determine if it was a good change or not would depend on the person.

I sighed as I left the studio sooner than I wanted to. I could still dance, but the dances and dance moves that I wanted to use were much too advanced for me while I was still injured. The walk back to Roshe's house was long, and my feet seemed to drag against the sidewalk the more I walked. I had to go home and talk to Roshe. He had gotten an invitation to Fuji's wedding, and as much as I wanted to tell him not to go, I also wanted to talk to him.

Midori had given me extra keys to the house earlier, so as I reached their place, I quietly opened the door and closed it. Even though it was a bit past half past ten, I knew that Midori would be asleep since she was pregnant and she liked to sleep early. I went into the guest bedroom and fell asleep without even bothering to change my clothes.

My exhaustion was the only thing I cared about.

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I woke up to the sun shining through the cream-colored curtains in the morning. I rolled out of bed and felt sore and crusty from not changing clothes. I remembered that I took a shower at Fuji's house though, and I let my mind wander to what had happened the night before. As much as I hated the kiss we had, I also wanted to have more of it. I didn't want to feel the same way, but I wanted more of his kisses. So much of it that I could get drunk off of it. The only thing in the way was how I felt when we kissed. I didn't want it to feel like I was helping him betray his fiancee, I wanted it to be different.

"Faye?" a man's voice came from outside the door.

I sat up immediately, afraid that it was going to be Fuji, but only Roshe came in with a worried expression.

"So why did you come home at ten-thirty last night?" he asked.

"That's not late," I pointed out.

"I know, but you don't usually stay out like that once the dance studio closes for the night."

"I was at Fuji's house," I answered truthfully. There was no need to hide where I was.

"What were you doing there?" Roshe demanded. "Are you just going to let yourself be hurt again?"

"We agreed to be friends again." Though I wasn't afraid to admit where I was, I felt as though Roshe didn't need to know what me and Fuji were doing.

"Why do you look so . . . lost?" he asked.

I considered his question for a moment, and instead of answering I asked, "Are you going to go to his wedding?"

"I'm not exactly sure."

"Can I come along?"

We both paused for a few seconds.

"What happened last night?" Roshe whispered. "You're my sister and I just want to help you. You have to tell me."

I sighed. I didn't want him to know how I still felt about Fuji, and I didn't want him to think anything bad of me. "He wanted to set things right between us. He wanted to end things in a better way than me just leaving the country and writing a note to him."

Roshe gave me a look. "Listen, I'll take you to the wedding, but only if you tell me what happened with you and him yesterday. I'm your brother, your older brother."

"By like two seconds," I mumbled. Roshe was always pulling the older brother card on me since he was the first twin born.

"Tell me," he said.

"We tried to set things right," I whispered. "But it didn't work, it felt as if I was helping him betray his fiancee, and I didn't want that, so I left, and we couldn't set things right."

I buried my face in my hands as Roshe gave me a hug. "Don't worry too much. I'll take you to the wedding, and you can apologize there to him, okay?"

I nodded my head, if only Roshe knew the whole story.

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**Please review!^^ That's all I ask of you guys. You all know about the virtual cookie thing too though! :D If you don't . . . scroll back to the top! **


	10. Can I Have the Last Dance?

**A/N: **Hey guys! Sorry I've been nonexistent. I've just lost all inspiration for writing and for fanfiction, but it's fall break for me now, and I wanted to give you guys at least this.

**IMPORTANT!**

This is the last chapter of this story.

I hope you guys like it, and I know that it's not up to par with my other writing, but I tried really really hard to finish this and get it out for you and like I said, I've lost inspiration. I haven't written for months, but I'm hoping that I gain it again from fanfiction. I hope this works out guys!

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**Chapter Ten**

**Can I Have the Last Dance?**

Three days.

It was three days until their wedding, and I had to prepare myself. I needed to apologize to him, maybe even to the both of them. That was the only way that I knew I could move on in my life, and I needed to see them together. Maybe seeing them together would finally shock my brain into believing that I would never have a chance. It didn't matter that he still liked me a little bit; he was getting married in three days, and there was nothing I could possibly do to stop it.

More than anything I needed to learn how to move on. Dance helped me forget about him temporarily, but it didn't help me get over him. It was a reminder now how I left him. Every time I danced I was reminded painfully of the day when I left him—left us—to pursue my dream. A dream that didn't last me my whole life like how I thought it would.

Roshe and Midori had been strangely careful around me ever since the night I came back from Fuji's house. They treated me like I was made of glass, and they were sure not to mention the wedding though I'm sure that Roshe told Midori I wanted to come.

I didn't know how I would act there. All I knew was that if I saw them together, for real, then maybe...maybe I would finally get it through my thick skull that he was taken; that was not for me. I was so stupid to believe even for a second that he would sacrifice a stable and almost married relationship to be with me. Our relationship was so unstable. From the beginning to the end it was an almost love-hate relationship. I hated him at first; I never thought I'd love him. At first I didn't even like _him. _I was in love with his dancing. He was an amazing partner.

How would I be able to apologize though? How would I also bear seeing him in a tuxedo at a wedding and _know_ that he wasn't getting married to me, but to Ai instead. I wanted to be his friend, I really did, but it seemed impossible with how we were. So I would just apologize to him and we would both get out of each others' lives permanently.

Three days went by quickly. It was as if the god of time hated me and wanted to have the worse day come even faster. I didn't know why that was happened. I expected time to go slow because I was anticipating it, but maybe time went a bit faster too because I was also anxious because of it. I needed more time. There wasn't enough time for anything anymore.

Two days.

There were only two days before the big day for the two of them. I didn't contact Fuji and he didn't contact me, not even to ask me to go to his wedding. He wasn't looking for me either, he was probably just doing things for his fiancee then. I wished that he was looking for me though. I wanted him to try and find me even though it was impossible to think about.

One day.

I grew more distressed as I realized that there was only one day left. I was stupid to think that he would give up everything for me. That's what I kept thinking. Over and over and over again it played in my head like a record, along with the thoughts that there was only one day left.

I moved around the house like a zombie, making sure to avoid Roshe and Midori. I didn't want to give them anything more to worry about since they were going to have a baby. They needed to focus on Midori. She was the important one right now with her pregnancy, not me with my overemotional state. I made sure to leave them alone together as much as possible, but Roshe would seek me out every few hours to make sure that I was okay. Or probably to make sure that I was still alive and that I hadn't done anything rash because as the wedding day grew nearer, I ate less and less.

The day before the wedding I wandered around Tokyo aimlessly. Roshe told me that I needed to go find a dress for the wedding, but I didn't want to look by myself. I stopped at the nearest store and decided to call Tsubaki. She would surely be coming to the wedding. She was Tezuka's fiancee and he was Fuji's best friend. The call went to voicemail so I hung up frustrated. I didn't like being alone in the city in this state. I realized that Ayumi had to still be in Tokyo since the main office for her corporation was in Tokyo. I called her old number, hoping that she still kept it. She picked up on the second ring and screamed into my ear.

"FAYE!"

"Um, Ayumi?" I asked cautiously.

"Of course it's me! I heard you were back in Tokyo for now, why didn't you call me?" she scolded.

"I'm sorry, I guess I got preoccupied." My voice cracked on the last word and that's when I knew that she knew that I wasn't well.

"Oh Faye," she sighed. "I wish I could be with you right now, but I'm busy with work."

I sighed.

"Don't worry, Faye, I'll help you any way I can."

"It's fine, Ayumi. You don't need to. I was just wondering, are you going to the wedding tomorrow?"

"Um, I sort of have to." Her voice was quavering, and I didn't know if it was from fear or embarrassment.

"Ayumi?" I waited for her to reply without pushing.

"Well, the thing is...I'm sort of Inui's date..."

"...Date?"

"He asked me and I said yes since he's not really a bad guy!"

"Okay..."

"Please don't be angry!" She hung up hurriedly. So that's what she was embarrassed about.

Once again I was alone. Aine was in Okinawa teaching. I knew that if she was here, she would come no matter what was going on for her. It's not like my other friends weren't there for me, it's just that Aine was so nice she would drop everything to come. I missed her. I missed all of my friends. I had no idea where they were since they graduated.

In fact, I didn't know where I was going to go. I couldn't stay at Roshe's house forever, and I didn't have a place back in New York yet since I had hurt my ankle. I didn't belong anywhere, and staying in Tokyo would guarantee that I see Fuji again. Even with a population of 13,000,000, I knew that I would run into him again like I did two times already.

I decided to give up. I would just borrow something of Midori's because we were about the same size. I walked home slowly, trying to take as long as I could so as not to disturb Roshe and Midori. It was one day. One day until _his_ wedding.

oOo

I lay in bed even though I knew that I didn't have the luxury of just lying there if I wanted to make it to the wedding. It was eight in the morning, and the wedding was a morning one that started at ten and would last until eight at night. It was an outdoor wedding in the garden, but the reception would be indoors at the fanciest hotel in Tokyo.

I pushed myself up onto my elbows for a second and then flopped back down. I would wait until Midori or Roshe would come and get me. As I expected though, it took about another twenty minutes before Midori came.

"Faye? Are you awake?" she asked.

"Yeah, Midori. I'll get up now if you need me to."

"Well, I just thought I would do your make-up and hair for the reception if that's alright with you. I need to start early since I have to get ready too."

I slipped out of bed and followed Midori to her room. She had everything set out already, and Roshe was nowhere to be seen.

Midori sat me down and started on my hair, curling every strand and making them in to nice, fat ringlets. She had a magic touch with hair and make-up that I never had. She took her time, not pushing me or rushing to make me nervous. When she was done she clipped back my bangs and started on my face. It was sort of comforting to have someone do all of that for me. It made me feel like a kid again and it was fun. I felt safe, and I thought that everything would be okay. I would go to the wedding and apologize and be done with it. After that...I didn't know, but I would figure things out for myself.

In the middle of all of Midori's work, Roshe came back with a paper bag full of donuts and bagels.

"Breakfast for the ladies!" he shouted,cupping his mouth with his hand to make a temporary megaphone. "It's hot and it's delicious so I suggest you eat before getting into your dresses or a mess will ensue." He smiled at me and gave Midori a peck before leaving the room to "get ready".

I ate in silence as Midori finished with me, giving me a smile at the end.

"You're beautiful," she said.

I looked into the mirror and saw that what she said was true. She was somehow able to mask all of the pain that accumulated with make-up. I looked normal, like myself. My face wasn't hollow anymore and there was no longer a helplessness to it. I got up and hugged her, silently thanking her for all that she was doing. She smiled back and told me to change into the dress she let me borrow. It was a dark purple, one-shoulder dress that went a little above my knees. It was simple and elegant and just beautiful.

About half an house before we were to leave, Roshe finally came to change into his Tux, and as soon as he was done we left.

I grew more and more panicked the nearer we got to the place. The panic didn't show on my face though; Midori had done a great job of hiding everything. Buildings passed by in a gray blur. I felt sick, nauseous. I wanted to jump from the car and run home, but I had asked for this. I had asked to go, so I had to fulfill my commitment.

We still had time before the wedding started when we arrived. I walked around the punch fountain and bar, making sure to avoid eye contact. The place was amazing, and it was every girls' dream to get married in a place like that. I knew that Fuji would be greeting the guests and that Ai would be in the back getting ready. I quickly sneaked into the bathroom and locked myself in a stall. I hyperventilated and coughed until my lungs almost came out. I puked in the toilet five minutes before everyone was called to sit down. I ran out to sit next to Roshe and Midori.

Fuji stood under and arch of flowers. His brown hair combed and styled back with his eyes closed. He didn't open them, and I thought the black of his tuxedo really would have brought out the blue in his eyes, making them colder and icier.

Music started and bridesmaids in pale yellows walked out with men from the Seigaku team: Tezuka—who was obviously the best man, Ryoma, Oishi, and Inui. All with women on their arms who were Midori's friends. They separated once they reached the arch. The men on the side next to Fuji and the women on the side where the bride would be.

Finally the wedding march played, and that was when Fuji finally opened his eyes. I was right, the blue did bring out his eyes. He didn't look for me in the crowd, and I was glad and disappointed at the same time.

Ai came walking out with her dad, and she was in the most gorgeous wedding dress. It was strapless with a yellow sash that tied at the waist. The bodice was beaded and the full, floor-length skirt was tulle and lace. A crown sat atop her head with a veil attached to it, covering her small, pretty face and huge green eyes. She was beautiful, and I was envious.

I let out a small sob as I saw her. No one heard, they were too focused on the bride. I bit my lip and dug my nails into my knees to prevent myself from crying. I bent my head a bit to let my hair fall into my face. I did anything I could to control my feelings, to reel them in. I didn't want to cry, even though I knew that if I did people would just brush it off as a "crying at weddings because it's so beautiful" moment. I knew that I wouldn't just be able to cry though, I would end up sobbing and screaming and begging for Fuji to end it. So I reeled my emotions in and sat stiffly. If I moved, I would've lost it. I tried not to watch, but I couldn't help myself when the priest said "You may kiss the bride." Their kiss was full of love and passion, and I felt my heart digging into my body like a knife. It had betrayed me.

Everyone clapped, everyone except me. I was trying too hard not to cry. People got up and started moving indoors to get to the food. I followed slowly. I needed to talk to Fuji, but I knew he wouldn't be without his new wife for even a second. I would wait.

There was a three course meal to be eaten. I sat next to Midori and Roshe. I blanked out when

Tezuka and the bridesmaid of honor gave speeches about the two. I saw Tsubaki sitting at a table with Ayumi, and I knew they were sitting alone because their guys had to sit at the top table with the bride and groom.

I shoveled food into my mouth without tasting it. That was the first time that week I had eaten more than a few bites at a meal.

I waited patiently for Fuji to be free of Ai so I could apologize. I found my chance after they had cut the cake together. I only had about another hour before it would be time to catch the bouquet and the garter.

Ai had left Fuji for a little bit to go the bathroom and he was standing alone next to the punch fountain. It was the first time that night that I had seen him alone. People were always congratulating him. I made my way to him quickly and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Faye," I breathed as he turned and saw me.

"Fuji," I acknowledged. "Congratulations on getting married." I forced a smile onto my face.

"Faye," he said again, except softer. "You came."

"Of course I did, I'm not rude." I couldn't bear to look at him like that anymore and I stared at the ground instead.

"Please look at me," he begged. He lifted my chin with his fingers, and I saw on his face sadness and desperation.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm sorry about what I did to you five years ago, and I'm sorry about what happened last week. I didn't mean for any of it to happen. I hope you have a nice life." I pulled away from him and tried to leave, but he grabbed my arm, in the same place he always did.

"Don't leave." There was that desperation again. "Don't leave, Faye."

"You're married now!" My voice broke on married and I thought I was going to cry again. "You have a wife now and you need to let go of me this instant sir." Fat tears rolled down my cheeks as I tried not to look at him.

He didn't let me go. Instead, he pulled my into his chest for a moment, and whispered softly, "I love you, Faye." He released my arm a millisecond later and looked away.

I glanced at him for a moment before whispering, "I love you too, Fuji."

I rushed away from him as soon as I said that. The tears were coming more frequently now and I had to keep my head bowed so people wouldn't see. I ran to the doors to get away. I would take a taxi home, but I was stopped by come men. One of them was holding a camera.

"Hey wait, before you leave would you like to say something to the bride and the groom? It's going on this video that they'll watch on their honeymoon."

"No thanks," I whispered.

"Come on! They're your friends."

The guy smiled at me and I forced myself to look at the camera. I wiped away my tears and put on my biggest smile. Congratulation guys. Have a wonderful honeymoon."

And before the man could say anything else, I dashed away. Fuji had told me he loved me, and that was the thing that hurt the most of all.

Eight Years Later

Tokyo was still a bustling place. It seemed to have grown even bigger. I was back in Tokyo, and this time, I was going to stay for good.

I went back to New York shortly after the ordeal and landed another dancing part except with a different troupe. One that wasn't so strict and heartless. One where the dancers didn't hate each other. It was exhilarating being back in New York, but in my heart I always missed Tokyo. So I came back, and I was going to be the new owner of Soft Steps Dance studio. The original owner had grown too old and had sold it to me. I would own my own studio and teach people more dancing. I had never been so glad to be back in Tokyo.

I wasn't scared of running into Fuji or Ai anymore. I was stronger and I had accepted what happened. I still yearned for him and loved him, but it was no longer the most important thing in my life. And neither was dance. I was different.

It had been a month since I came back, and I had already fixed the studio. It didn't need to be fixed though, it just needed some touch-ups. I repainted the studio and replaced the hardwood floors with oak floors, which would be better for the feet. It was September and a cold breeze blew. I was locking up to go out to lunch when I saw him again for the first time in eight years since his wedding. He still looked almost exactly the same. I didn't turn my head away, I wasn't afraid of him seeing me. I didn't want him to, but I wasn't going to hide anymore.

I started walking in his direction, but only because that was where my apartment was. In just a few seconds he caught sight of me.

"Faye," he mouthed.

I looked up at him and gave him a smile. "Hello Fuji."

He was speechless for once.

"I haven't seen you in eight years," I said. "How's your life?" I wanted to be polite more than anything.

He gave me a why smile before showing me his left hand. There was no wedding band on it.

"What happened? You two were so in love." I looked up at him, searching his face for an answer. I hoped to got that I wasn't the reason for the divorce. There was no way Ai could've found out anything.

"We fell out of love." He gave me such a simple answer I didn't know how to reply. "We were always fighting," he continued. "And in the end she threw the wedding ring and the engagement ring at me and told me to go screw myself and that she didn't need me. It was two years ago." There was that wry smile again.

"I'm so so sorry."

"Don't be."

We stood there silently for a moment. My heart was expanding and filling my chest with all of my hopes. They grew bigger until they were the size of a hot air balloon. I thought it might pop, but nothing happened. Fuji didn't say anything else, and my heart still ballooned just at the sight of him. I was hoping against all hope that he would be with me. I still loved him yes, but it no longer hurt to be in his proximity. Instead I was being filled with liquid happiness. I waited for him to say the last words that he had said to me at his wedding.

He grabbed my hand and smiled. "I love you, Faye."

I gave him a smile too. "I love you too, Fuji. So let's start over from the beginning."

**Fin.**

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Come on guys, please please please review for me? This is the last chapter of the whole story, so you guys have to review. Please? :) Don't make me beg.


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